The Streight of Magellan
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stumps of trees at the bottom of the river. We then went ashore, where we saw many wigwams of the natives, and several of their dogs, who, as soon as we came in sight, ran away. We also saw some ostriches, but they were beyond the reach of our pieces: we gathered muscles, limpets, sea-eggs, celery, and nettles in great abundance. About three miles up this river, on the west fide, between Mount Misery and another mountain of a stupendous height, there is a cataract which has a very striking appearance: it is precipitated from an elevation of above four hundred yards; half the way it rolls over a very steep declivity, and the other half is a perpendicular fall. The sound of this cataract is not less awful than the sight.
In this place, contrary winds detained us till 10 o’clock in the morning of Saturday the 14th, when we weighed, and in half an hour the current set the ship towards Bachelor’s River: we then put her in stays, and while she was coming about, which she was long in doing, we drove over a shoal where we had little more than 16 feet water with rocky ground; so that our danger was very great, for the ship drew 16 feet 9 inches aft, and 15 feet one inch forward: as soon as the ship gathered way, we happily deepened into three fathom; within two cables’ length we had five, and in a very short time we got into deep water. We continued plying to windward till four o’clock in the afternoon, and then finding that we had loft ground, we returned to our station, and again anchored in York road.
Here we remained till five o’clock in the morning of the 17th, when we weighed, and towed out of the road. At nine, though we had a fine breeze at west, the ship was carried with great violence by a current towards the south shore: the boats were all towing a-head, and the sails asleep, yet we
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 394, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/394.html