Passage through the Streight of Magellan
Index
Search
Contact us
that runs right off it about a short mile. The soundings are very irregular all over the bay, but the ground is every where a fine soft mud and clay, so that the cables can come to no damage. The Point lies in latitude 52° 23’S. longitude, by account, 68° 57’W.: the variation is two points easterly. In the bay the tide rises and falls between four and five fathom, and runs at the rate of about a mile an hour; in the mid-channel without the bay, it runs nearly three miles an hour. In this place we saw no appearance either of wood or water. The landing appeared to be good, but we did not go on shore. We anchored here on the 19th of December, and sailed again on the 22d.
III. PORT FAMINE. At this place, the Spaniards, in the year 1581, built a town, which they called Phillippeville, and left in it a colony, consisting of 400 persons. When our celebrated navigator, Cavendish, arrived here in 1587, he found one of these unhappy wretches, the only one that remained, upon the beach: they had all perished for want of subsistence, except twenty-four; twenty-three of these set out for the river Plata, and were never afterwards heard of. This man, whose name was Hernando, was brought to England by Cavendish, who called the place where he had taken him up, Port Famine. It is a very fine bay, in which there is room and conveniency for many ships to moor in great safety. We moored in nine fathom, having brought Cape St. Anne N.E. by E. and Sedger River S. ½ W. which perhaps is the best situation, though the whole bay is good ground. In this place there is very good wooding and watering; we caught many fine small fish with a hook and line off the ship’s side, and hauled the seine with great success, in a fine sandy bay, a little to the southward of Sedger River: we also shot a great number of birds, of various kinds, particularly geese, ducks, teal, snipes, plover, and race-horses, and we
 |
Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 411, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/411.html