A voyage round the world in the years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV

by Baron George Anson Anson

CHAPTER III

A SHORT NARRATIVE OF WHAT BEFEL THE "ANNA" PINK BEFORE SHE JOINED US, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF THE "WAGER," AND OF THE PUTTING BACK OF THE "SEVERN" AND "PEARL," THE TWO REMAINING SHIPS OF THE SQUADRON

On the first appearance of the Anna pink, it seemed wonderful to us how the crew of a vessel, which came to this rendezvous two months after us, should be capable of working their ship in the manner they did, with so little appearance of debility and distress. But this difficulty was soon solved when she came to an anchor; for we then found that they had been in harbour since the middle of May, which was near a month before we arrived at Juan Fernandes: so that their sufferings (the risk they had run of shipwreck only excepted) were greatly short of what had been undergone by the rest of the squadron. It seems, on the 16th of May, they fell in with the land, which was then but four leagues distant, in the latitude of 45° 15' south. On the first sight of it they wore ship and stood to the southward, but their fore top-sail splitting, and the wind being W.S.W., they drove towards the shore; and the captain at last, either unable to clear the land, or, as others say, resolved to keep the sea no longer, steered for the coast, with a view of discovering some shelter amongst the many islands which then appeared in sight: and about four hours after the first view of the land, the pink had the good fortune to come to an anchor to the eastward of the island of Inchin; but as they did not run sufficiently near to the east shore of that island, and had not hands enough to veer away the cable briskly, they were soon driven to the eastward, deepning their water from twenty-five fathom to thirty-five, and still continuing to drive, they, the next day, the 17th of May, let go their sheet-anchor. This, though it brought them up for a short time, yet, on the 18th, they drove again, till they came into sixty-five fathom water, and were now within a mile of the land, and expected to be forced on shore every moment, in a place where the coast was so very high and steep, too, that there was not the least prospect of saving the ship or cargo. As their boats were very leaky, and there was no appearance of a landing-place, the whole crew, consisting of sixteen men and boys, gave themselves over for lost, apprehending that if any of them by some extraordinary chance should get on shore, they would, in all probability, be massacred by the savages on the coast: for these, knowing no other Europeans but Spaniards, it might be expected they would treat all strangers with the same cruelty which they had so often and so signally exerted against their Spanish neighbours. Under these terrifying circumstances, the pink drove nearer and nearer to the rocks which formed the shore; but at last, when the crew expected each instant to strike, they perceived a small opening in the land, which raised their hopes; and immediately cutting away their two anchors, they steered for it, and found it to be a small channel betwixt an island and the main, that led them into a most excellent harbour, which, for its security against all winds and swells, and the smoothness of its water, may perhaps compare with any in the known world. And this place being scarcely two miles distant from the spot where they deemed their destruction inevitable, the horrors of shipwreck and of immediate death, which had so long and so strongly possessed them, vanished almost instantaneously, and gave place to the more joyous ideas of security, refreshment, and repose.

In this harbour, discovered in this almost miraculous manner, the pink came to an anchor in twenty-five fathom water, with only a hawser and a small anchor of about three hundredweight. Here she continued for near two months, and here her people, who were many of them ill of the scurvy, were soon restored to perfect health by the fresh provisions, of which they procured good store, and the excellent water with which the adjacent shore abounded. As this place may prove of the greatest importance to future navigators, who may be forced upon this coast by the westerly winds, which are almost perpetual in that part of the world, I shall, before I enter into any farther particulars of the adventures of the pink, give the best account I could collect of this port, its situation, conveniencies, and productions.

The latitude of this harbour, which is indeed a material point, is not well ascertained, the pink having no observation either the day before she came here, or within a day of her leaving it. But it is supposed that it is not very distant from 45° 30' south, and the large extent of the bay before the harbour renders this uncertainty of less moment. The island of Inchin lying before the bay is thought to be one of the islands of Chonos which are mentioned in the Spanish accounts as spreading all along that coast, and are said by them to be inhabited by a barbarous people, famous for their hatred of the Spaniards, and for their cruelties to such of that nation as have fallen into their hands; and it is possible too that the land, on which the harbour itself lies, may be another of those islands, and that the continent may be considerably farther to the eastward. The depths of water in the different parts of the port, and the channels by which it communicates with the bay, are sufficiently marked. But it must be remembered that there are two coves in it, where ships may conveniently heave down, the water being constantly smooth; and there are several fine runs of excellent fresh water which fall into the harbour, some of them so luckily situated that the casks may be filled in the long-boat with an hose. The most remarkable of these is the stream in the N.E. part of the port. This is a fresh-water river, where the pink's people got some few mullets of an excellent flavour, and they were persuaded that in a proper season (it being winter when they were there) it abounded with fish. The principal refreshments they met with in this port were greens, as wild celery, nettle-tops, etc. (which after so long a continuance at sea they devoured with great eagerness); shell-fish, as cockles and muscles of an extraordinary size, and extremely delicious; and good store of geese, shags, and penguins. The climate, though it was the depth of winter, was not remarkably rigorous, nor the trees and the face of the country destitute of verdure, whence in the summer many other species of fresh provisions, besides these here enumerated, might doubtless be found there. Notwithstanding the tales of the Spanish historians in relation to the violence and barbarity of the inhabitants, it doth not appear that their numbers are sufficient to give the least jealousy to any ship of ordinary force, or that their disposition is by any means so mischievous or merciless as hath hitherto been represented. With all these advantages, this place is so far removed from the Spanish frontier, and so little known to the Spaniards themselves, that there is reason to suppose that by proper precautions a ship might continue here undiscovered a long time. It is moreover a post of great defence, for by possessing the island that closes up the harbour, and which is accessible in very few places, a small force might secure this port against all the strength the Spaniards could muster in that part of the world, since this island towards the harbour is steep too, and has six fathom water close to the shore, so that the pink anchored within forty yards of it. Whence it is obvious how impossible it would prove, either to board or to cut out any vessel protected by a force posted on shore within pistol-shot, and where those who were thus posted could not themselves be attacked. All these circumstances seem to render this port worthy of a more accurate examination; and it is to be hoped that the important uses which this rude account of it seems to suggest may hereafter recommend it to the consideration of the public, and to the attention of those who are more immediately entrusted with the conduct of our naval affairs.

After this description of the place where the pink lay for two months, it may be expected that I should relate the discoveries made by the crew on the adjacent coast, and the principal incidents during their stay there; but here I must observe, that, being only a few in number, they did not dare to detach any of their people on distant searches, for they were perpetually terrified with the apprehension that they should be attacked either by the Spaniards or the Indians; so that their excursions were generally confined to that tract of land which surrounded the port, and where they were never out of view of the ship. Though had they at first known how little foundation there was for these fears, yet the country in the neighbourhood was so grown up with wood, and traversed with mountains, that it appeared impracticable to penetrate it: whence no account of the inland parts could be expected from them. Indeed they were able to disprove the relations given by Spanish writers, who have represented this coast as inhabited by a fierce and powerful people, for they were certain that no such inhabitants were there to be found, at least during the winter season, since all the time they continued there, they saw no more than one Indian family, which came into the harbour in a periagua, about a month after the arrival of the pink, and consisted of an Indian near forty years old, his wife, and two children, one three years of age and the other still at the breast. They seemed to have with them all their property, which was a dog and a cat, a fishing-net, a hatchet, a knife, a cradle, some bark of trees intended for the covering of a hut, a reel, some worsted, a flint and steel, and a few roots of a yellow hue and a very disagreeable taste which served them for bread. The master of the pink, as soon as he perceived them, sent his yawl, who brought them on board; and fearing, lest they might discover him, if they were permitted to go away, he took, as he conceived, proper precautions for securing them, but without any mixture of ill usage or violence, for in the daytime they were permitted to go where they pleased about the ship, but at night were locked up in the forecastle. As they were fed in the same manner with the rest of the crew, and were often indulged with brandy, which they seemed greatly to relish, it did not at first appear that they were much dissatisfied with their situation, especially as the master took the Indian on shore when he went a shooting (who always seemed extremely delighted when the master killed his game), and as all the crew treated them with great humanity; but it was soon perceived, that though the woman continued easy and chearful, yet the man grew pensive and restless at his confinement. He seemed to be a person of good natural parts, and though not capable of conversing with the pink's people, otherwise than by signs, was yet very curious and inquisitive, and shewed great dexterity in the manner of making himself understood. In particular, seeing so few people on board such a large ship, he let them know that he supposed they were once more numerous; and to represent to them what he imagined was become of their companions, he laid himself down on the deck closing his eyes, and stretching himself out motionless, to imitate the appearance of a dead body. But the strongest proof of his sagacity was the manner of his getting away, for after being in custody on board the pink eight days, the scuttle of the forecastle, where he and his family were locked up every night, happened to be unnailed, and the following night being extremely dark and stormy, he contrived to convey his wife and children through the unnailed scuttle, and then over the ship's side into the yawl; and to prevent being pursued, he cut away the long-boat and his own periagua, which were towing astern, and immediately rowed ashore. All this he conducted with so much diligence and secrecy, that though there was a watch on the quarter-deck with loaded arms, yet he was not discovered by them till the noise of his oars in the water, after he had put off from the ship, gave them notice of his escape; and then it was too late either to prevent him, or to pursue him, for, their boats being all adrift, it was a considerable time before they could contrive the means of getting on shore themselves to search for their boats. The Indian, too, by this effort, besides the recovery of his liberty, was in some sort revenged on those who had confined him, both by the perplexity they were involved in from the loss of their boats, and by the terror he threw them in at his departure, for on the first alarm of the watch, who cried out, "the Indians!" the whole ship was in the utmost confusion, believing themselves to be boarded by a fleet of armed periaguas.

The resolution and sagacity with which the Indian behaved upon this occasion, had it been exerted on a more extensive object than the retrieving the freedom of a single family, might perhaps have immortalized the exploit, and have given him a rank amongst the illustrious names of antiquity. Indeed his late masters did so much justice to his merit as to own that it was a most gallant enterprize, and that they were grieved they had ever been necessitated, by their attention to their own safety, to abridge the liberty of a person of whose prudence and courage they had now such a distinguished proof. As it was supposed by some of them that he still continued in the woods in the neighbourhood of the port, where it was feared he might suffer for want of provisions, they easily prevailed upon the master to leave a quantity of such food as they thought would be most agreeable to him in a particular part where they imagined he would be likely to find it, and there was reason to conjecture that this piece of humanity was not altogether useless to him, for, on visiting the place some time after, it was found that the provision was gone, and in a manner that made them conclude it had fallen into his hands.

But, however, though many of them were satisfied that this Indian still continued near them, yet others would needs conclude that he was gone to the island of Chiloe, where they feared he would alarm the Spaniards, and would soon return with a force sufficient to surprize the pink. On this occasion the master of the pink was prevailed on to omit firing the evening gun; for it must be remembered (and there is a particular reason hereafter for attending to this circumstance) that the master, from an ostentatious imitation of the practice of men-of-war, had hitherto fired a gun every evening at the setting of the watch. This he pretended was to awe the enemy, if there was any within hearing, and to convince them that the pink was always on her guard, but it being now represented to him that his great security was his concealment, and that the evening gun might possibly discover him and serve to guide the enemy to him, he was prevailed on to omit it for the future; and his crew being now well refreshed, and their wood and water sufficiently replenished, he, in a few days after the escape of the Indian, put to sea, and had a fortunate passage to the rendezvous at the island of Juan Fernandes, where he arrived on the 16th of August, as hath been already mentioned in the preceding chapter.