There
Cannot Well Be A More Unpleasant Place To Anchor In, As The Bay Is
Surrounded By High Mountains, And Is Subject To Alternate Dead Calms And
Sudden Stormy Gusts Of Wind.
This island enjoys a fine wholesome air,
insomuch that out of seventy of us, who remained here five months
And
eleven days, not one among us had an hour's sickness, though we fed upon
such foul diet, without bread or salt; so that we had no complaints
among us, except an incessant craving appetite, and the want of our
former strength and vigour. As for myself, from being corpulent, and
almost crippled by the gout, I lost much of my flesh, but became one of
the strongest and most active men on the island, walking much about,
working hard, and never in the least afflicted with that distemper. The
soil is fertile, and abounds with many large and beautiful trees, most
of them aromatic. The names of such as we knew were the Pimento, which
bears a leaf like a myrtle, but somewhat larger, with a blue blossom,
the trunks being short and thick, and the heads bushy and round, as if
trained by art. There is another tree, much larger, which I think
resembles that which produces the jesuit bark. There are plains on the
tops of some of the mountains, on which are groves of the Indian
laurel, mentioned by Frezier in his description of Chili. These have a
straight slender body, from which sprout small irregular branches all
the way from the root to the top, bearing leaves like the laurel, but
smaller. Palm-trees are found in most parts of the island, growing in
smooth joints, like canes, some thirty and some forty feet high. Their
heads resemble the cocoa-nut tree, except that their leaves are of a
paler green, and bear large bunches of red berries, bigger than sloes,
which taste like haws, and have stones as large as those of
heart-cherries. That which we call the palm-cabbage is the very
substance of the head of the tree; which being cut off and divested of
its great spreading leaves, and all that is hard and tough, consists of
a white and tender young shoot or head, having its leaves and berries
perfectly formed, and ready to replace the old one. When in search of
these, we were forced to cut down a lofty tree for each individual
cabbage.
One good property of the woods which cover this island is, that they are
every where of easy access, as there is no undergrowth, except in some
of the deepest valleys, where the fern grows exceedingly high, and of
which there are very large trees, with trunks of considerable
solidity.[270] Some of the English who had been formerly here, had sowed
turnips, which have spread much, as have also two or three plantations
of small pompions; but my men never had patience to let any of these
come to maturity. We found also plenty of water-cresses and wild sorrel.
Some of the hills are remarkable for a fine red earth, which I take to
be the same with that of which the inhabitants of Chili make their
earthenware, which is almost as beautiful as the red porcelain of China.
The northern part of the island is well watered by a great many streams
which flow down the narrow valleys; and we found the water to keep well
at sea, and to be as good as any in the world. Down the western peak,
contiguous to the Table Mountain, there fall two cascades from a
perpendicular height of not less than 500 feet. These are close
together, and about 12 feet broad. What with the rapid descent of these
streams, and the numerous palm-trees growing close beside them, adorned
with vast clusters of red berries, the prospect is really beautiful. We
should have had no want of goats, could we have conveniently followed
them in the mountains. The Spaniards, before they settled in Chili, left
a breed of goats here, and have since endeavoured to destroy them, by
leaving a breed of dogs, but without effect. Cats are also very
numerous, exactly resembling our household cats in size and colour; and
those of our men who eat of them, assured me they found more substantial
relief from one meal of their flesh, than from four or five of seal or
fish; and, to their great satisfaction, we had a small bitch, which,
could catch almost any number they wanted in an hour. There are not many
sorts of birds; but the sea on the coast abounds with a greater variety
of fish than almost any place I was ever in.
[Footnote 270: These must have been some species of palm, having
palmatad leaves resembling ferns. - E.]
Seals and sea-lions also abound; called lobos de la mar by the
Spaniards, from their resemblance to wolves. They have a fine iron-grey
fur, and when full grown are as big as a large mastiff. They are
naturally surly, and snarl at the approach of any one. Instead of tails,
they have two fins behind, with which they make shift to get on much
faster than the sea-lions, which are large unwieldy creatures, and
prodigiously full of oil.
SECTION IV.
Farther Proceedings in the South Sea, after leaving Juan Fernandez.
We departed from Juan Fernandez on the evening of the 6th October,
having nothing to subsist upon except the smoked congers, one of which
was allowed to each man for twenty-four hours; together with one cask of
beef, four live hogs, which had fed all the time we were ashore on the
putrid carcases of seals, and three or four bushels of cassada meal. We
were upwards of forty men, crowded together, and lying on the bundles of
eels, with no means of keeping ourselves clean, so that all our senses
were offended as greatly as possible. The only way we had of procuring
water, was by sucking it from the cask with a gun-barrel, used
promiscuously by every one.
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