The Streight of Magellan
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sometimes backing, Sometimes filling, we entered the first Narrows. About six o’clock in the evening, the ride being done, we anchored on the south shore, in 40 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 19 fathom, with a muddy bottom. At eight we anchored two leagues from the shore, in 24 fathom, Cape Gregory bearing W. ½ N. and Sweepstakes Foreland, S. W, ½ W. The tide here ran seven knots an hour, and such <i>bores</i> 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 Straight we had 12 fathom within half a mile of the shore on each side, and in the middle 17 fathom, 22 fathom, and no ground. At five o’clock in the evening, the ship suddenly shoaled from 17 fathom to 5, St. Bartholomew’s island then bearing S. ½ W. distant between three and four miles, and Elizabeth island S. S. W. ½ W. distant five or six miles. About half an hour after eight o’clock, |the weather being rainy and tempestuous, we anchored under Elizabeth island in 34 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 ashore with their guns. saw two small dogs, several places where fires had been recently
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 382, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/382.html