Leave Port Otway—San Quintin's Sound—Gulf of Peñas—Kelly Harbour—St. Xavier Island—Death of Serjeant Lindsey—Port Xavier—Ygnacio Bay—Channel's mouth—Bad weather—Perilous situation—Lose the yawl—Sick list—Return to Port Otway—Thence to Port Famine—Gregory Bay—Natives—Guanaco meat—Skunk—Condors—Brazilians—Juanico—Captain Foster—Changes of officers.
The Beagle returned to Port Otway the following day, and in an interval of better weather obtained the observations necessary for ascertaining the latitude and longitude of the port, and for rating the chronometers.
Captain Stokes's journal continues on the 19th of May: "We left Port Otway, and as soon as we had cleared its entrance, steered E.N.E. across the gulf; leaving to the northward all that cluster of islands, distinguished in the chart as the 'Marine Islands,' and went to within a mile from the eastern shore. Thence we ran four miles and a half parallel with the direction of coast E.S.E. (mag.), at the mean distance of a mile off shore. The aspect of the eastern and western portions of this gulf is very different, and the comparison is much to the disadvantage of the eastern. Ranges of bare, rugged, rocky mountains now presented themselves, and where wood was seen, it was always stunted and distorted. A long swell rolled in upon the shore, and every thing seemed to indicate a stormy and inclement coast. There are a few bays and coves, in which is anchorage depth, with a pretty good bottom of dark coarse sand: but rock-weed in large patches, seen in some of them, denoted foul ground; and they are all more or less exposed, and extremely unsafe. As night advanced, the weather became rainy and thick; so having reached a bight which seemed less insecure than others that we passed, I hauled in, and at about seven P.M., guided only by the gradual decrease of our soundings, from
fourteen to eight fathoms, and the noise of the surf, came to an anchor.
"Next morning (20th) we found that we had anchored in a small bay, at about half a mile from a shingle beach, on which a furious surf was breaking so heavily as to prevent our landing any where. We were completely exposed to S.W. winds, with a heavy rolling sea; and the surf on all points cut off communication with the shore. A breeze from the S.W. would have rendered it difficult to get out, and would have exposed us to imminent hazard. It is called on the chart Bad Bay. We left it eagerly, and proceeded to trace the coast to the E.S.E., until we were nearly abreast of a moderately high and thickly-wooded island, called Purcell Island. We passed to the northward of Purcell Island, leaving on the left a rock only a few feet above the surface of the sea, which lies about midway between that island and the main land. As we advanced to the eastward, a large and very remarkable field of ice was seen lying on the low part of the coast, which, at a distance, we took for a dense fog hanging over it, as nothing of the kind was observable in any other part. When nearly abreast of San Xavier Island, a deep sound was observed to the left, or north, which we concluded was the San Quintin Sound of the Spanish chart: it seemed to be about five-miles in breadth, and following a westerly direction. We kept sight of the Sugar Loaf, and other points we had fixed, until more could be established, which enabled us to chart the coast as we went along. My next object was to trace the Sound of San Quintin to its termination, and at nightfall we succeeded in getting an anchorage at the entrance.
"On the 21st we proceeded up the sound, passing to the northward of Dead Tree Island. Our soundings, until abreast of it, were from sixteen to ten fathoms, on a mud bottom; it then shoaled to four fathoms, and after running about three miles in that depth, we came to an anchor at the distance of a mile from the north shore of the sound, in four fathoms.
"Exceedingly bad weather detained us at this anchorage. From the time of our arrival, on the evening of the 21st,
until midnight of the 22d, it rained in torrents, without the intermission of a single minute, the wind being strong and squally at W., W.N.W., and N.W.
"When the weather improved, on the 23d, we weighed, and made sail along the northern side of the sound, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it admitted of a passage to the northward. We kept within a mile of the shore, sounding from eight to fifteen fathoms, generally on a sandy bottom; and a run of seven miles brought us within three miles of the bottom of the inlet, the depth of water being four fathoms, on sand. The termination of this sound is continuous low land, with patches of sandy beach, over which, in the distance, among mountains of great height, we were again able to make out and take the bearing of that remarkable one, named the 'Dome of St. Paul's.' The shores of this inlet are thickly wooded; the land near them is, for the most part, low, but rises into mountains, or rather hills, from twelve to fifteen hundred feet in height, from which many streams of water descend. As soon as a ship has passed Dead Tree Island, she becomes land-locked; and as in all parts of the sound there is anchorage depth, with a muddy or sandy bottom, the advantages offered to shipping would be of great consequence in parts of the world more frequented than the Gulf of Peñas.
"Whales were numerous, and seals were seen in this inlet, now called the Gulf of San Estevan.