On the 10th, at daylight, they proceeded on their return. The wind was fair until they reached Cape Earnest, when it drew right against them; and they had the unpleasant prospect of a tedious pull to the schooner, with very little provision.
The 11th was a thoroughly wet day, and the wind was so strong from the northward, with a very heavy sea running, that it was impossible to proceed.
On the 12th, they left the bay soon after daylight, and having pulled along shore a few miles, crossed Union Sound, and gained the Narrows of San Benito, the wind being still fresh from the northward; thence they continued pulling until they hauled up, after dark, in a bay, opposite Point Benito, and waited till the morning of the 13th, when with a fresh S.W. wind they made good progress, which was of the more consequence, as their provisions were expended, although they had eked them out with corvorants and muscles. At last, the sight of the Adelaide rejoiced them, and they soon afterwards reached her. Their appearance was a relief to all who were on board, as they were becoming very anxious, and Lieut. Graves was preparing to send the other whale-boat in search of them. During their absence he had made the necessary astronomical observations, and finished the examination of those shores adjacent to the harbours.
From the 13th to the 17th, the schooner was detained by bad weather, and the following day only succeeded in reaching Escape Bay, in San Estevan Channel, which was found to be a good and well-sheltered anchorage, although small.
On the 19th, after angles had been taken on each side of the Channel, the Adelaide got under weigh, and steered up the Channel. At noon she passed the mount which they supposed to be Sarmiento's Monte Trigo, and soon after, nearing Esperanza Island, they sought for some mark by which to recognise the Mountain of the Fox ('Monte de la Zorra'). In the white part of a cliff, they fancied some resemblance to an
animal, and noticed a harbour opposite, in which they anchored. They had such trouble in getting to the northward, that this day's run, though only eighteen miles, was a cause of much satisfaction.
On the 20th, at daylight, the boats were employed around the anchorage, and at nine o'clock the vessel was underweigh, and working to the northward, although it rained hard then, as well as throughout the whole day: after beating until the evening, she anchored on the west shore.
Constant rain fell through the whole night, and during the 21st; it was therefore impossible to make any progress to the northward.
On the 22d the Adelaide weighed, and the weather being calm, was towed during the whole forenoon. At noon a southerly wind sprung up, and by the evening she was in the Guia Narrows (of Sarmiento). They tried for anchorage in Unfit Bay, conceiving it to be Sarmiento's Port Ochavario; but none being found, the vessel was towed into a cove, and securely moored.
Next day the boats surveyed the Guia Narrows. Although long, they did not appear hazardous to pass, for the tides are not very rapid. The ebb tide runs to the northward, but at the south entrance of the San Estevan Channel, the ebb sets to the southward; which difference in direction, within so short a distance, is extraordinary, and difficult to account for without knowing more of the coast. Certainly there is a meeting of tides between the two entrances; probably, all the land westward of San Estevan is a collection of large islands, and water flows into this channel, from the Pacific, through many openings, which may be the cause of this peculiarity.