We sailed the next day (11th), not without some apprehension that the Adelaide might meet this large concourse of Indians before they separated; as Port Gallant was a place rarely passed by vessels without stopping, and the natives being all housed behind a point of land, could not be seen until too late.
We were abreast of Cape Froward at noon; in the evening we anchored in French Bay, and next day (13th) reached Port Famine. As I purposed remaining until the Adelaide should arrive, the tents were set up, the boats landed for repair, and the transit instrument was set up, in the hope that a comet
might be visible, which we had seen in our passage from Concepcion to the Strait; but the weather was at first too cloudy, and afterwards the comet itself was too faint to be discerned.[[173]]
On the 21st, nine canoes arrived in the bay, containing a large party of Fuegians, principally those who frequent the Magdalen Channel, and probably the sea-coast. They had generally shown themselves disposed to be mischievous, and I determined upon preventing their encamping near us; for their presence would greatly impede our watering and wooding parties, by distracting the attention of the people. I, therefore, went to meet them at the watering-place, under Point St. Anna, where they had landed, near one of our boats which was on the beach. Among them we only recognised three who had visited us before, and those three were brought to our remembrance by their former misconduct. I had always made it a rule to treat them kindly, with the view of obtaining their good-will; but I found it was the wrong way to gain their respect, for it only made them expect more from me, the consequence of which was, that when we separated, neither party was pleased with the other. I used on this occasion a more dictatorial tone than I had hitherto done; for, seeing several with slings in their hands, and a collection of large, round pebbles wrapped up in the corner of their mantles, I desired them to throw the stones away, which they did not hesitate to do. The Indians were now all landed, and evidently presuming upon their numerical strength, upwards of eighty being assembled, began to make themselves very familiar.
I thought it best to check their advances, by desiring them not to visit the side of the bay where our tents stood, but to go round Point St. Anna, to an adjoining cove. They seemed to understand me perfectly, and soon afterwards embarked, while I returned on board. The natives, however, landed again, in the middle of the bay, at the north side, and there encamped.
Next morning, the men of the tribe visited our tents, but found them surrounded by a rope I had caused to be fixed,
and which they were not permitted to pass. At noon, after observing the sun's transit, I went to the barrier, and while the people were at dinner, endeavoured to amuse our visitors, who were from fifteen to twenty in number, by showing them several trifles; among the rest, a pocket set of coloured glasses, belonging to the transit. They looked through them at the sun, but handled them rather roughly, and broke the frame; upon which I expressed my anger, and turned them away. Soon afterwards, however, I walked towards them, and selecting the Indian who had offended me, gave him a bunch of beads, and thus restored peace; but desired them, at the same time, to go to their wigwams, which they did. In their way, they mischievously broke down a part of my meridian mark; seeing which, I sent a carpenter, attended by a marine, to repair it, and went myself to inspect its being again set up. The natives were collected round it, evidently in expectation of my being angry, and awaited my approach. Upon my coming near, I showed them that I was much displeased, and ordered them into their canoes; when one of the party, muttering a few words, picked up a stone from the ground, and was fixing it in his sling, when I took the marine's musket, and presented it at him, upon which the whole took to their heels; the principal offender and another ran along the beach, and the rest to their canoes. I could not resist the opportunity of letting them know we were prepared for them, by firing over the heads of the two who were running near the water.
The report of the musket attracted the attention of Lieutenant Mitchell, who was on board on the look-out, expecting some fracas would, sooner or later, take place; and seeing four or five canoes paddling across, and the two Indians running along the beach, he manned a boat, and pulled towards the canoes, which tried to evade him, and stones were thrown at him as he approached. A musket fired over their heads, soon quieted them, when he pulled round their canoes, to show them they were in his power, but did not molest them, and then allowed the party to proceed.
This affair alarmed the women at the wigwams, and hastily
gathering up their effects, they hurried into their canoes, and joined the others, who all paddled round Point St. Anna. The men, however, landed there, and remained on shore, armed with slings, spears, and bows, ready to defend themselves, and, by their gestures, defying us to land. No attention was paid to them, and, after a short time, they went over the hills to the coves on the north side of the point. As we had now openly quarrelled, I thought it better that they should keep at a distance; and therefore, taking two boats, pulled round the point, to tell them to go five miles farther, to Rocky Bay; but the canoes were already beached, and the women had taken up their quarters. As we approached, the hills echoed with the screams of the women and the shouts of the men; all of whom, stark naked, armed, and daubed with white paint, their heads being stuck full of white feathers, hastened down to the point of the bay. The place, from its nature, offered a good defence, as the beach was lined by large rocks, behind which they could conceal themselves from our view, and yet assail us with stones. When within a few yards of the beach, we held a parley—the object of which was, that they should go farther to the northward; to this they vociferously replied, by desiring us to leave them. Seeing there was no chance of enforcing our demand, without shedding blood, I ordered the boats away; and on getting about a musket-shot from the beach, one of the Fuegians threw a stone, which fell close to us. In an instant, every one of them was concealed behind the rocks; but we returned their fire, and another large stone fell within two feet of the boat. A second musket was fired, and another stone was returned, with equal precision. After the interchange of a few more stones for bullets, they ceased throwing them, and we returned on board. It was very unlikely that any of our shot took effect; for we were at a long distance, and could only see their heads above the rocks. Fortunately, none of the stones struck us, for they were large enough to have caused a severe bruise. It is astonishing how very correctly they throw them, and to what a distance. When the first stone fell close to us, we all thought ourselves out of musket-shot.