Streight of Magellan to Port Famine
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On the 26th, at eight o’clock in the morning, we weighed, with the wind at E.N.E. and steered S.S.E. for Port Famine. At noon, St. Anne’s Point, which is the northermost point of that port, bore S. by E. ½ E. distant three leagues. Along this shore, at the distance of two or three miles, we had very deep water; but within a mile had ground with twenty-five or thirty fathom. From St. Anne’s Point a reef of rocks runs out S.E. by E. about two miles; and at the distance of two cables length from this reef the water will suddenly shoal from sixty-five to thirty-five and twenty fathom. The Point itself is very steep, so that there is no sounding till it is approached very near, and great care must be taken in standing into Port Famine, especially if the ship is as far southward as Sedger river; for the water will shoal at once from thirty to twenty, fifteen, and twelve fathom; and at about two cables length farther in, at more than a mile from the shore, there is but nine feet water, when the tide is out. By hauling close round St. Anne’s Point, soundings will soon be got; and as the water shoals very fast, it is not safe to go farther in, when there is no more than seven fathom; the streight here is not more than four leagues wide.
The next day at noon, having had little wind, and calms, we anchored in Port Famine, close to the shore, and found our situation very safe and convenient: we had shelter from all winds except the S.E. which seldom blows, and if a ship should be driven ashore in the bottom of the bay, she could receive no damage, for it is all fine soft ground. We found drift wood here sufficient to have furnished a thousand sail, so that we had no need to take the trouble of cutting green. The water of Sedger river is excellent, but the boats cannot get in till about two hours flood, because at low water it is very shallow for about three quarters of a mile. I went up it about four miles in my boat, and the fallen trees then rendered it impossible to go farther: I found it, indeed, not only difficult but dangerous to get up thus far. The stream is very rapid, and many stumps of trees lie hidden under it: one of these made its way through the bottom of my boat, and in an instant she was full of water. We got on shore as well as we could; and afterwards, with great difficulty, hauled her up upon the side of the river: here we contrived to stop the hole in her bottom, so as that we made a shift to get her down to the river’s mouth, where she was soon properly repaired by the carpenter. On each side of this river there are the finest trees I ever saw, and I make no doubt but that they would supply the British navy with the best masts in the world. Some of them are of a great height, and more than eight feet in diameter, which is proportionably more than eight yards in circumference; so that four men, joining hand in hand, could not compass them: among others, we found the pepper tree, or winter’s bark, in great plenty. Among these woods, notwithstanding the coldness of the climate, there are innumerable parrots, and other birds of the most beautiful plumage. I shot every day geese and ducks enough to serve my own table and several others, and every body on board might have done the same: we had indeed great plenty of fresh provisions of all kinds; for we caught as much fish every day as served the companies of both ships. As I was much on shore here, I tracked many wild beasts in the sand, but never saw one; we also found many huts or wigwams, but never met with an Indian. The country between this Port and Cape Forward,
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 37 - 38, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/074.html