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. ½ 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 bad 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.½ 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,

Voyaging Accounts