SECTION VIII.
Course from the Straits of Le Maire to Cape Noir.
We had scarcely reached the southern extremity of the Straits of Le Maire, when our flattering hopes were almost instantly changed to the apprehension of immediate destruction. Even before the sternmost ships of the squadron were clear of the straits, the serenity of the sky was suddenly obscured, and we observed all the presages of an impending storm. The wind presently shifted to the southward, and blew in such violent squalls that we had to hand our top-sails and reef our main-sail; while the tide, which had hitherto favoured us, turned furiously adverse, and drove us to the eastward with prodigious rapidity, so that we were in great anxiety for the Wager and Anna pink, the two sternmost vessels, fearing they might be dashed to pieces upon the shore of Staten Land; nor were our apprehensions without foundation, as they weathered that coast with the utmost difficulty. Instead of pursuing our intended course to the S.W. the whole squadron was now drifted to the eastward, by the united force of the storm and current; so that next morning we found ourselves nearly seven leagues eastward of the straits, which then bore from us N.W.
The violence of the current, which had set us with so much precipitation to the eastward, together with the fierceness and constancy of the westerly winds, soon taught us to consider the doubling of Cape Horn as an enterprize that might prove too mighty for all our efforts; though some among us had so lately treated the difficulties which former voyagers were said to have encountered in this undertaking as little better than chimerical, and had supposed them to have arisen from timidity and unskilfulness, rather than from the real embarrassments of the winds and seas. But we were now convinced, from severe experience, that these censures were rash and ill founded; for the distresses with which we struggled during the three succeeding months, will not be easily paralleled in the relation of any former naval expedition; which, I doubt not, will be readily allowed by those who shall carefully peruse the ensuing narration.
From this storm, which came on before we were well clear of the straits of Le Maire, we had a continual succession of such tempestuous weather as surprised the oldest and most experienced mariners on board, and obliged them to confess, that what they had hitherto called storms were inconsiderable gales, when compared with those winds we now encountered; which raised such short, and at times such mountainous waves, as greatly surpassed in danger all seas known in other parts of the globe, and, not without reason, this unusual appearance filled us with continual terror; for, had any one of these waves broken fairly over us, it must almost inevitably have sent us instantly to the bottom. Neither did we escape with terror only: for the ship, rolling incessantly gunwale-to, gave us such quick and violent jerking motions, that the men were in perpetual danger of being dashed to pieces against the decks and sides of the ship; and, though we were extremely careful to secure ourselves against these shocks, by grasping some fixed body, yet many of our people were forced from their holds, some of whom were actually killed, and others greatly injured. In particular, one of our best seamen was canted overboard and drowned; another dislocated his neck; a third was thrown down the main hatchway into the hold and broke his thigh; one of our boatswain's mates broke his collar-bone twice; not to mention many other similar accidents.
These tempests, so dreadful in themselves, though unattended by any other unfavourable circumstances, were yet rendered more mischievous to us by their inequality, and by the deceitful intervals that at times occurred; for, although we had often to lie-to for days together under a reefed mizen, and were frequently reduced to drive at the mercy of the winds and waves under bare poles, yet now and then we ventured to make sail under double-reefed courses; and occasionally, the weather proving more moderate, were perhaps encouraged to set our top-sails; after which, without any previous notice, the wind would return with redoubled force, and would in an instant tear our sails from the yards. And, that no circumstance might be wanting which could aggravate our distress, these blasts generally brought with them a great quantity of snow and sleet, which cased our rigging in ice, and froze our sails, rendering them and our cordage so brittle as to tear and snap with the least strain; adding thereby great difficulty and labour to the working of the ship, benumbing the hands and limbs of our people, and rendering them incapable of exerting themselves with their accustomed activity, and even disabling many of them, by inducing mortification of their toes and fingers. It were, indeed, endless to enumerate the various disasters of different kinds which befel us, and I shall only mention the most material, which will sufficiently evince; the calamitous condition of the whole squadron, during this part of our navigation.
As already observed, it was on the 7th of March that we passed the Straits of Le Maire, and were immediately afterwards driven to the eastwards, by a violent storm, and by the force of the current setting in that direction. During the four or five succeeding days, we had hard gales of wind from the same western quarter, attended by a most prodigious swell; insomuch that, although we stood all that time towards the S.W. we had no reason to imagine we had made any way to the westwards. In this interval we had frequent squalls of rain and snow, and shipped great quantities of water. After this, for three or four days, though the sea ran mountains high, yet the weather was rather more moderate; but, on the 18th; we had again strong gales of wind with excessive cold, and at midnight the main top-sail split, and one of the straps of the main dead-eyes broke. From the 18th to the 23d the weather was more moderate, though, often intermixed with rain and sleet and some hard gales; but, as the waves did not subside, the ship, by labouring sore in this lofty sea, became so loose in her upper-works that she let in water at every seam, so that every part of her within board was constantly exposed to the sea-water, and scarcely any even of the officers ever lay dry in their beds. Indeed, hardly did two nights pass without many of them being driven from their beds by deluges of water.
On the 23d we had a most violent storm of wind, hail, and rain, with a prodigious sea; and, though we handed the main-sail before the height of the squall, yet we found the yard spring; and soon after, in consequence of the foot-rope of the main-sail breaking, the main-sail itself split instantly into rags, and much the greater part of it was blown away, in spite of every endeavour to save it. On this the commodore made the signal for the squadron to bring to; and as the storm lulled into a calm, we had an opportunity to lower the main-yard, and set the carpenters to work upon it, while we also repaired our rigging; after which, having bent a new main-sail, we got again under way with a moderate breeze. But, in less than twenty-four hours, we had another storm, still more furious than the former, which blew a perfect hurricane, and obliged us to lie-to under bare poles. As our ship kept the wind better than any of the rest, we were obliged in the afternoon to wear, in order to join the squadron to leeward, as otherwise we had been in danger of parting from them in the night. On this occasion, as we dared not venture to show any sail to the gale, we had to use an expedient, which answered the purpose: This was putting the helm a-weather and manning the fore-shrouds: But, though this answered the end in view, yet in its execution one of our ablest seamen was canted overboard. Notwithstanding the prodigious agitation of the waves, we could perceive that he swam very vigorously, yet we found ourselves, to our excessive concern, incapable of giving him the smallest assistance; and were the more grieved at his unhappy fate, as we lost sight of him struggling with the waves, and conceived that he might continue long sensible of the horror of his irretrievable situation.
Before this storm was quite abated, we found that two of our main-shrouds and one of our mizen-shrouds were broken, all of which we knotted and replaced immediately. After this we had an interval of three or four days less tempestuous than usual, but accompanied by so thick a fog, that we had to fire guns almost every half hour to keep our squadron together. On the 31st we were alarmed by a gun from the Gloucester, and a signal to speak the commodore. We immediately bore down to her, prepared to learn some terrible disaster, of which we were apprised before we came down, by seeing that her main-yard was broken in the slings. This was a grievous misfortune to us all, at this juncture, as it was evident that it must prove a hinderance to our sailing, and would detain us the longer in these inhospitable latitudes. Our future safety and success was not to be promoted by repining, but by resolution and activity; and therefore, that this unhappy incident might delay us as short as possible, the commodore ordered several carpenters to be put on board the Gloucester from the other ships of the squadron, in order to repair her damage with the utmost expedition. At this time also, the captain of the Tryal represented that his pumps were so bad, and his ship made so much water, that he was scarcely able to keep her free; wherefore the commodore ordered him a pump, ready fitted, from the Centurion. It was very fortunate, both for the Gloucester and Tryal, that the weather proved more favourable that day, than for many days both before and after; since by this means they were enabled to receive the assistance which seemed so essential for their preservation, and which they could scarcely have procured at any other time, as it would have been extremely hazardous to have ventured a boat on board.
Next day, being the 1st of April, the weather returned to its customary bias; the sky looking dark and gloomy, and the wind beginning to freshen and to blow in squalls; yet it was not so boisterous as to prevent us carrying our top-sails close reefed, but its appearance evidently prognosticated that a still more severe tempest was at hand. Accordingly, on the 3d of April, there came on a storm, which, both in its violence and duration, for it lasted three days, exceeded all we had hitherto experienced. In its first onset, we received a furious shock from a sea, which broke upon our larboard quarter, where it stove in the quarter gallery, and rushed into the ship like a deluge. Our rigging suffered also extremely from the blow; among the rest, one of the straps of the main dead-eyes was broken, as were likewise a main shroud and a puttock shroud; so that, to ease the stress upon the masts and shrouds, we had to lower both our main and fore yards, and to furl all our sails. We lay in this posture for three days, when, the storm somewhat abating, we ventured to make sail under our courses only. Even this would not avail us long; for next day, being the 7th, we had another hard gale, accompanied with lightning and rain, which obliged as to lie-to all night.