Cape Pillar to Masasuero
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I TOOK my departure from Cape Pillar, which I make to lie in the latitude of 52° 45'S., and in the longitude 75° I0'W. of the meridian of London, and as soon as I got clear of the Streight, steered to the northward along the coast of Chili. Upon examining what quantity of fresh water we had now on board, I found that it amounted only to between four and five and twenty tons, which I thought not sufficient for so long a voyage as was probably before us; I therefore hauled to the northward, intending to make the island of Juan Fernandes, or Masafuero, that we might increase our Rock before we sailed to the westward.
In the middle of the night of the I6th, we had the wind first to the S.S.E. and then to the S.E. with which we kept away N.W. and N.N.W. in high spirits, hoping that in a short time we should be in a more temperate climate: we had the misfortune, however, very soon to find ourselves disappointed, for on the 18th the wind came to the N.N.W. and blew directly from the point upon which we were steering. We had now got about a hundred leagues from the Streight's mouth; our latitude was 48° 39'S., and we were, by account, 4° 33' W. of Cape Pillar; but from this time, till the 8th of May, the wind continued unfavourable, and blew a continued storm, with sudden gusts still more violent, and much rain and hail, or rather fragments of half melted ice: at intervals also we had thunder and lightning, more dreadful than all the past, and a sea which frequently laid the whole vessel under water.
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 537 - 538, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/537.html