The Passage through the Streight of Magellan, with some further Account of the Patagonians, and a Description of the Coast on each side, and its Inhabitants. About one o'clock, on Wednesday the 17th of December, I made the signal and weighed, ordering the Swallow to go a-head, and the store-ship to bring up the rear. The wind was right against us, and blew fresh; so that we were obliged to turn into the Streight of Magellan with the flood-tide, between Cape Virgin Mary and the Sandy Point that resembles Dungeness. When we got a-breast of this Point, we stood close into the shore, where we saw two guanicoes, and many of the natives on horseback, who seemed to be in pursuit of them: When the horsemen came near, they ran up the country at a great rate, and were pursued by the hunters, with their slings in their hands ready for the cast; but neither of them was taken while they were within the reach of our sight.
When we got about two leagues to the west of Dungeness, and were standing off shore, we fell in with a shoal upon which we had but seven fathom water at half flood; This obliged us to make short tacks, and keep continually heaving the lead. At half an hour after eight in the evening, we anchored about three miles from the shore, in 20 fathom, with a muddy bottom: Cape Virgin Mary then bearing N.E. by E. 1/2 E.; Point Possession W. 1/2 S. at the distance of about five leagues.
About half an hour after we had cast anchor, the natives made several large fires a-breast of the ship, and at break of day we saw about four hundred of them encamped in a fine green valley, between two hills, with their horses feeding beside them. About six o'clock in the morning, the tide being done, we got again under sail: Its course here is from east to west; it rises and falls thirty feet, and its strength is equal to about three knots an hour. About noon there being little wind, and the ebb running with great force, the Swallow, which was a-head, made the signal and came to an anchor; upon which I did the same, and so did the store-ship that was a-stern.
As we saw great numbers of the natives on horseback a-breast of the ship, and as Captain Carteret informed me that this was the place where Commodore Byron had the conference with the tall men, I sent the lieutenants of the Swallow and the store-ship to the shore, but with orders not to land, as the ships were at too great a distance to protect them. When these gentlemen returned, they told me, that the boat having lain upon her oars very near the beach, the natives came down in great numbers; whom they knew to be the same persons they had seen the day before, with many others, particularly women and children; that when they perceived our people had no design to land, they seemed to be greatly disappointed, and those who had been on board the ship waded off to the boat, making signs for it to advance, and pronouncing the words they had been taught, "Englishmen come on shore," very loud, many times; that when they found they could not get the people to land, they would fain have got into the boat, and that it was with great difficulty they were prevented. That they presented them with some bread, tobacco, and a few toys, pointing at the same time to some guanicoes and ostriches, and making signs that they wanted them as provisions, but that they could not make themselves understood; that finding they could obtain no refreshment, they rowed along the shore in search of fresh water, but that, seeing no appearance of a rivulet, they returned on board.
At six o'clock the next morning, we weighed, the Swallow being still a-head, and at noon we anchored in Possession Bay, having twelve fathom, with a clean sandy bottom. Point Possession at this time bore east, distant three leagues; the Asses Ears west, and the entrance of the Narrows S.W. 1/2 W.: The bottom of the bay, which was the nearest land to the ship, was distant about three miles. We saw a great number of Indians upon the Point, and at night, large fires on the Terra del Fuego shore.
From this time, to the 22d, we had strong gales and heavy seas, so that we got on but slowly; and we now anchored in 18 fathom, with a muddy bottom. The Asses Ears bore N.W. by W. 1/2 W. Point Possession N.E. by E. and the point of the Narrows, on the south side, S.S.W. distant between three and four leagues. In this situation, our longitude, by observation, was 70° 20' W. latitude 52° 30' S. The tide here sets S.E. by S. and N.E. by N. at the rate of about three knots an hour; the water rises four-and-twenty feet, and at this time it was high water at four in the morning.
In the morning of the 23d, we made sail, turning to windward, but the tide was so strong, that the Swallow was set one way, the Dolphin another, and the store-ship a third: There was a fresh breeze, but not one of the vessels would answer her helm. We had various soundings, and saw the rippling in the middle ground: In these circumstances, sometimes backing, sometimes filling, we entered the first Narrows. About six o'clock in the evening, the tide being done, we anchored on the south shore, in forty fathom with a sandy bottom; the Swallow anchored on the north shore, and the store-ship not a cable's length from a sand-bank, about two miles to the eastward. The streight here is only three miles wide, and at midnight, the tide being slack, we weighed and towed the ship through. A breeze sprung up soon afterwards, which continued till seven in the morning, and then died away. We steered from the first Narrows to the second S.W. and had nineteen fathom, with a muddy bottom. At eight we anchored two leagues from the shore, in 24 fathom, Cape Gregory bearing W. 1/2 N. and Sweepstakes Foreland S.W. 1/2 W. The tide here ran seven knots an hour, and such bores sometimes came down, with immense quantities of weeds, that we expected every moment to be adrift.
The next day, being Christmas day, we sailed through the second Narrows. In turning through this part of the Streight we had twelve fathom within half a mile of the shore on each side, and in the middle seventeen fathom, twenty-two fathom, and no ground. At five o'clock in the evening, the ship suddenly shoaled from seventeen fathom to five, St Bartholomew's island then bearing S. 1/2 W. distant between three and four miles, and Elizabeth's Island S.S.W. 1/2 W. distant five or six miles. About half an hour after eight o'clock, the weather being rainy and tempestuous, we anchored under Elizabeth's island in twenty-four fathom, with hard gravelly ground. Upon this island we found great quantities of celery, which, by the direction of the surgeon, was given to the people, with boiled wheat and portable soup, for breakfast every morning. Some of the officers who went a-shore with their guns, saw two small dogs, and several places where fires had been recently made, with many fresh shells of mussels and limpets lying about them: They saw also several wigwams or huts, consisting of young trees, which, being sharpened at one end, and thrust into the ground in a circular form, the other ends were brought to meet, and fastened together at the top; but they saw none of the natives.
From this place we saw many high mountains, bearing from S. to W.S.W.; several parts of the summits were covered with snow, though it was the midst of summer in this part of the world: They were clothed with wood about three parts of their height, and above with herbage, except where the snow was not yet melted. This was the first place where we had seen wood in all South America.
At two o'clock in the morning of the 26th, we weighed, and, having a fair wind, were a-breast of the north end of Elizabeth's Island at three: At half an hour after five, being about mid-way between Elizabeth's Island and St George's Island, we suddenly shoaled our water from seventeen fathom to six: We struck the ground once, but the next cast had no bottom with twenty fathom. When we were upon this shoal, Cape Porpoise bore W.S.W. 1/2 W. the south end of Elizabeth's island W.N.W. 1/2 W. distant three leagues; the south end of Saint George's Island N.E. distant four leagues. The store-ship, which was about half a league to the southward of us, had once no more than four fathom, and for a considerable time not seven; the Swallow, which was three or four miles, to the southward, bad deep water, for she kept near to St George's Island. In my opinion it is safest to run down from the north end of Elizabeth's Island, about two or three miles from the shore, and so on all the way to Port Famine. At noon a low point bore E. 1/2 N.; Fresh-water Bay S.W. 1/2 W. At this time we were about three miles distant from the north shore, and had no ground with eighty fathom. Our longitude, by observation, which was made over the shoal, was 71° 20' W. our latitude 53° 12' S.