We all felt much additional interest in what was then seen, on account of the late survey in the Adelaide. Cape Schomberg and the Astrea Rock were easily known by Lieutenant Graves's sketch. To a high mountain, which in some views very much resembled the dome of St. Paul's, I gave that name (finding it out of the limits of Lieutenant Skyring's survey): it lies a short distance east of Cape Schomberg. A passage appeared to go to the eastward, passing from the Barbara channel, northward of Cape Schomberg and St. Paul's. Light baffling winds and an ebb-tide, of about a knot an hour, setting out of the Barbara, detained us until six P.M., between the Magill and Fury Islands; but soon after that hour we anchored in North Cove, a small but perfectly secure place. By reaching this anchorage, I had the satisfaction of being enabled to connect my work with Lieutenant Skyring's, and to take a fresh start for the next piece of coast. Hitherto we had been extremely fortunate, both with the ship and the boats; but such success could not be expected always.
"15th. Early this morning, Mr. Murray went in a whale-boat to the islands, near Cape Kempe, to ascertain the situations of some reefs and islets thereabouts, and sketch the outer coast. Mr. Stokes went in another boat to look for Hope Harbour, and examine part of the coast. The boatswain accompanied him, as he thought he knew his way by passages among the islands, although he had failed to recognise the place from the offing.
"16th. Bad weather, blowing a gale of wind and raining nearly all the day.
"17th. A squally and disagreeable day; but our boats made some progress.
"18th. Some Natives came alongside for a short time. As usual, we would not allow them to come on board, because of their being such dexterous thieves. A man to whom the canoe appeared to belong was far better featured, and more stoutly made, than any we had seen among the Fuegians. After bartering some of their very valuable property they left us.
"19th. Early this morning Mr. Stokes returned: he had
been near enough to Hope Harbour, to see that it was in the Grafton Islands, and was one of the coves examined by Mr. Murray. He then returned as he had been desired; but made very good use of his time while away, by collecting materials for the charts. He fell in with a canoe under sail (the sail being a seal-skin); the first instance I had then known of a Fuegian canoe sailing. As far as Mr. Stokes could see to the northward, the land was very broken, or rather it was a mass of islands reaching to the base of a range of snowy mountains.
"North Cove is large enough to hold any vessel when moored; but the passage, in and out, is too narrow and difficult for a ship of more than three or four hundred tons, unless she uses warps. Being on the weather side of high land, but sheltered by low islands, williwaws do not annoy during westerly winds; but in a southerly gale I think they would be furious.
"My next task was to ascend Mount Skyring. As there was but little snow on it, and the ground quite clear of wood, the ascent was easy; but when at the summit I could not see far, because of low misty clouds. I had taken only a compass with me, intending to look round, and ascend a second time with my usual companion, a theodolite. After taking a few bearings, I moved the compass off its stand, and placed it on a stone; when, to my surprise, I found the bearing of a point, I had just been looking at, altered twenty degrees. Suspecting the cause, I put it on another stone, a few feet distant, and found the bearing again altered many degrees. I then examined the stones, and found there was much pyrites in them;[[185]] and that when broken, or struck against one another, they smelt strongly of sulphur. The compass was then replaced on its stand, and bearings of the same point taken from various spots, only a few feet apart, the point being many miles distant, and at each spot the compass gave a different bearing, and was very dull and sluggish, although it was a good Kater's compass, with a light card. Having thus satisfied myself of the very strong local attraction existing, I returned to the ship,
intending to make no further use of a compass in this place; and as Lieutenant Skyring might have been deceived in his bearings from a similar cause, I hoped to procure a round of angles, with a theodolite set to a true bearing, which might be serviceable for his work, as well as my own. Many pieces of the stone, from different heights, were brought down; and in most of them were traces of metal.