In this place we saw no quadruped except seals, sea-lions, and dogs: of the dogs it is remarkable that they bark, which those that are originally bred in America do not. And this is a further proof, that the people we saw here had, either immediately or remotely, communicated with the inhabitants of Europe. There are, however, other quadrupeds in this part of the country; for when Mr. Banks was at the top of the highest hill that he ascended in his expedition through the woods, he saw the footsteps of a large beast imprinted upon the surface of a bog, though he could not with any probability guess of what kind it might be.
Of land-birds there are but few: Mr. Banks saw none larger than an English blackbird, except some hawks and a vulture; but of water-fowl there is great plenty, particularly ducks. Of fish we saw scarce any, and with our hooks could catch none that was fit to eat; but shell-fish, limpets, clams, and mussels, were to be found in abundance.
Among the insects, which were not numerous, there was neither gnat nor musquito, nor any other species that was either hurtful or troublesome, which perhaps is more than can be said of any other uncleared country. During the snow-blasts, which happened every day while we were here, they hide themselves; and the moment it is fair they appear again, as nimble and vigorous as the warmest weather could make them.
Of plants, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found a vast variety; the far greater part wholly different from any that have been hitherto described. Besides the birch and winter’s bark, which have been mentioned already; there is the beach, Fagus antarcticus, which, as well as the birch, may be used for timber. The plants cannot be enumerated here; but as the scurvy-grass, Cardamine antiscorbutica, and the wild celery, Apium antarcticum, probably contain antiscorbutic qualities, which may be of great benefit to the crews of such ships as shall hereafter touch at this place, the following short description is inserted:
The scurvy-grass will be found in plenty in damp places, near springs of water, and, in general, in all places that lie near the beach, especially at the watering-place in the Bay of Good Success: when it is young, the state of its greatest perfection, it lies flat upon the ground, having many leaves of a bright green, standing in pairs opposite to each other, with a single one at the end, which generally makes the fifth upon a foot-stalk. The plant, passing from this state, shoots up in stalks that are sometimes two feet high, at the top of which are small white blossoms, and these are succeeded by long pods: the whole plant greatly resembles that which in England is called Lady’s smock, or Cuckow-flower. The wild celery is very like the celery in our gardens, the flowers are white, and stand in the same manner, in small tufts at the top of the branches, but the leaves are of a deeper green. It grows in great abundance near the beach, and generally upon the soil that lies next above the spring tides. It may, indeed, easily be known by the taste, which is between that of celery and parsley. We used the celery in large quantities, particularly in our soup, which, thus medicated, produced the same good effects which seamen generally derive from a vegetable diet, after having been long confined to salt provisions.
On Sunday the 22d of January, about two o’clock in the morning, having got our wood and water on board, we sailed out of the bay, and continued our course through the Streight.
CHAP. VI.
A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE S. E. PART OF TERRA DEL FUEGO, AND THE STREIGHT OF LE MAIRE; WITH SOME REMARKS ON LORD ANSON’S ACCOUNT OF THEM, AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE PASSAGE WESTWARD, ROUND THIS PART OF AMERICA, INTO THE SOUTH SEAS.
Almost all writers who have mentioned the island of Terra del Fuego, describe it as destitute of wood, and covered with snow. In the winter it may possibly be covered with snow, and those who saw it at that season might, perhaps, be easily deceived, by its appearance, into an opinion that it was destitute of wood. Lord Anson was there in the beginning of March, which answers to our September, and we were there the beginning of January, which answers to our July; which may account for the difference of his description of it from ours. We fell in with it about twenty-one leagues to the westward of the Streight of Le Maire, and from the time that we first saw it, trees were plainly to be distinguished with our glasses: and as we came nearer, though here and there we discovered patches of snow, the sides of the hills and the sea coast appeared to be covered with a beautiful verdure. The hills are lofty, but not mountainous, though the summits of them are quite naked. The soil in the valleys is rich, and of a considerable depth: and at the foot of almost every hill there is a brook, the water of which has a reddish hue, like that which runs through our turf bogs in England; but it is by no means ill tasted, and, upon the whole, proved to be the best that we took in during our voyage. We ranged the coast to the Streight, and had soundings all the way from forty to twenty fathom upon a gravelly and sandy bottom. The most remarkable land on Terra del Fuego is a hill in the form of a sugar-loaf, which stands on the west side not far from the sea; and the three hills, called the Three Brothers, about nine miles to the westward of Cape St. Diego, the low point that forms the north entrance of the Streight of Le Maire.
It is said in the account of Lord Anson’s voyage, that it is difficult to determine exactly where the Streight lies, though the appearance of Terra del Fuego be well known, without knowing also the appearance of Staten Land; and that some navigators have been deceived by three hills on Staten Land, which have been mistaken for the Three Brothers on Terra del Fuego, and so over-shot the Streight. But no ship can possibly miss the Streight that coasts Terra del Fuego within sight of land, for it will then of itself be sufficiently conspicuous; and Staten Land, which forms the east side, will be still more manifestly distinguished, for there is no land on Terra del Fuego like it. The Streight of Le Maire can be missed only by standing too far to the eastward, without keeping the land of Terra del Fuego in sight: if this is done, it may be missed, however accurately the appearance of the coast of Staten Land may have been exhibited; and if this is not done, it cannot be missed, though the appearance of that coast be not known. The entrance of the Streight should not be attempted but with a fair wind and moderate weather, and upon the very beginning of the tide of flood, which happens here at the full and change of the moon, about one or two o’clock; it is also best to keep as near to the Terra del Fuego shore as the winds will admit. By attending to these particulars, a ship may be got quite through the Streight in one tide; or, at least, to the southward of Success Bay, into which it will be more prudent to put, if the wind should be southerly, than to attempt the weathering of Staten Land with a lee wind and a current, which may endanger her being driven on that island.
The Streight itself, which is bounded on the west by Terra del Fuego, and on the east by the west end of Staten Land, is about five leagues long, and as many broad. The Bay of Good Success lies about the middle of it, on the Terra del Fuego side, and is discovered immediately upon entering the Streight from the northward: and the south head of it may be distinguished by a mark on the land, that has the appearance of a broad road, leading up from the sea into the country: at the entrance it is half a league wide, and runs in westward about two miles and a half. There is good anchorage in every part of it, in from ten to seven fathom, clear ground; and it affords plenty of exceeding good wood and water. The tides flow in the Bay, at the full and change of the moon, about four or five o’clock, and rise about five or six feet perpendicular. But the flood runs two or three hours longer in the Streight than in the Bay; and the ebb, or northerly current, runs with near double the strength of the flood.