By Constant Labour, And Using A Variety Of Contrivances, We At Length
Finished Our Bark, But In Such A Manner That I May Safely Assert, A
Similar Bottom Never Before Swam On The Sea.
Our boat also was launched
on the 9th September; and our bark being now in a fair way of
Being
completed, it remained to consider what provisions we could get to
support us during our voyage, all our stock being one cask of beef, five
or six bushels of farina de poa, or cassada flour, and four or five
live hogs. I made several experiments to preserve both fish and seal,
but found that this could not be done without salt. At length we fell
upon a contrivance for curing conger eels, by splitting them, taking out
their backbones, dipping them in sea-water, and then drying them in a
great smoke; but as no other fish could be cured in a similar manner,
our fishers were directed to catch as many congers as they could. At
this time several of our people who had not hitherto done any work,
began to repent of their folly, as they grew weary of living on this
island, and now offered their services to go a-fishing, making some idle
excuses for being so long idle, asking my pardon, and promising not to
lose a moment in future. The new boat was sent to try her fortune, and
returned at night with a great parcel of various kinds of fish, among
which were about 200 congers, which was a good beginning, and which were
divided among the tents to be cured. Our boat was carefully hauled on
shore every night, and strictly guarded, to prevent any of our people
from stealing her, and making their escape. By her means also, Mr
Brooks, our only diver, tried what could be recovered from that part of
the wreck which had not been drifted on shore; but could only weigh one
small gun, and two pieces of a large church candlestick, belonging to
our owners.
Our boat was daily employed in fishing, for which purpose the armourer
supplied hooks; and our men made abundance of lines of twisted ribbons,
a great quantity of which had been driven on shore. Others of the men
were employed in making twine stuff for rigging, patching up old canvass
for sails, and a variety of other necessary contrivances to enable us to
put to sea; and our cooper put our casks in order; and at length we set
up our masts, which were tolerably well rigged, and our bark made a
decent figure. My spirits were however much damped, by the extreme
difficulty of caulking her tight, as her seams were bad, our tools
wretched, and our artists very indifferent. When this was done, so as we
could, our bark was put into the water to try her fitness, on which
there was an outcry of, A sieve! a sieve! Every one now seemed
melancholy and dispirited, insomuch that I was afraid they would use no
farther means; but in a little time, by incessant labour, we brought her
into a tolerable condition. Having repaired the ship's pumps, and fitted
them to the bark, the people exclaimed that this was only a poor
dependence; but I exhorted them to have patience, and continue their
assistance in doing every thing that could be thought of for her
security. The cooper also made a set of buckets, one for every man, to
serve to bale her, in case of necessity. Next spring-tide, which was on
the 5th October, 1720, we put her again into the water, naming her the
Recovery, when she answered tolerably well, when we resolved to run
the hazard of going to sea in her, and made all possible dispatch in
getting our things on board. Yet, after all, a dozen of our people chose
to remain on shore, together with as many negroes and Indians.
Our sea-stock, besides the small quantity of beef and cassada flour
formerly mentioned, consisted of 2300 eels cured in smoke, weighing one
with another about a pound each, together with about sixty gallons of
seal-oil, in which to fry them. On our first landing, as the weather was
then too coarse for fishing, we had to live on seals, the entrails of
which are tolerable food; but the constant and prodigious slaughter we
made among them, frightened them from our side of the island. Some of
the people eat cats, which I could not bring myself to, and declared
they were sweet nourishing food. When the weather allowed us to fish, we
were delivered from these hardships; but some of our mischievous crew
set the boat a-drift, so that she was lost: after which we contrived
wicker boats, covered with sea-lions skins, which did well enough near
shore, but we durst not venture in them out into the bay, and
consequently were worse provided with fish than we might otherwise have
been. We fried our fish in seal-oil, and eat it without bread or salt,
or any other relish, except some wild sorrel. Our habitations were very
wretched, being only covered by boughs of trees, with the skins of seals
and sea-lions, which were often torn off in the night, by sudden flaws
of wind from the mountains.
The island of Juan Fernandez is in lat 33 deg. 40' S. and long. 79 deg. W. being
at the distance of about 150 marine leagues, or 7 deg. 30' from the coast
of Chili. It is about fifteen English miles long from E. to W. and five
miles at the broadest, from N to S. entirely composed of mountains and
valleys, so that there is no walking a quarter of a mile on a flat. The
anchoring place is on the north side of the island, and is distinguished
by a little mountain, with a high peak on each side. It is not safe to
anchor in less than forty fathoms, and even there, ships are very much
exposed to sharp gales from the north, which blow frequently.
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