A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History; of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and; Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the; Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History; of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and; Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the; Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
All being embarked, and every thing prepared for our departure, the
commodore made the signal for all captains, and delivered them their
orders, containing the successive places of rendezvous from hence to
the coast of Chili. Next day, being the 18th of January, 1741, the
signal was made for weighing, and the squadron put to sea; leaving
this island of St Catharines without regret, as we had been extremely
disappointed in our accommodations and expectatations of refreshment,
and in the humane and friendly offices we had been taught to look
for, in a place so much celebrated for its hospitality, freedom, and
convenience.
SECTION VI.
_The Run from St Catharines to Port St Julian; with some Account of
that Port, and of the Country to the South of the Rio Plata._
In quitting St Catharines, we left the last amicable port we proposed
to touch at, and were now proceeding to a hostile, or at best a desert
and inhospitable coast. As we were to expect a more boisterous climate
to the southward than any we had yet experienced, not only our
danger of separation would by this means be much augmented, but other
accidents of a more mischievous nature were also to be apprehended,
and as much as possible provided against. Mr Anson, therefore, in
appointing the various stations at which the ships of the squadron
were to rendezvous, had considered that his own ship might be disabled
from getting round Cape Horn, or might be lost, and gave therefore
proper directions, that, even in that case, the expedition might not
be abandoned. The orders delivered to the captains, the day before
sailing from St Catharines, were, in case of separation, which they
were to endeavour to avoid with the utmost care, that the first place
of rendezvous was to be Port St Julian, describing the place from Sir
John Narborough's account of it. They were there to provide as much
salt as they could take on board, both for their own use and that of
the other ships of the squadron; and, if not joined by the commodore
after a stay of ten days, they were then to pass through the straits
of Le Maire and round Cape Horn into the South-Seas, where the next
place of rendezvous was to be the island of Nostra Senora del Socoro,
in lat. 45° S. long. 71° 12' W. from the Lizard.[1] They were to bring
this island to bear E.N.E. and to cruize from five to twelve leagues
distance from it, as long as their store of wood and water would
permit, both of which they were directed to expend with the utmost
frugality. When under the necessity of procuring a fresh supply, they
were to stand in, and endeavour to find an anchorage; and in case they
could not, and the weather made it dangerous to supply the ships by
standing off and on, they were then to make the best of their way to
the island of Juan Fernandez in lat. 33° 37' S. at which island, after
recruiting their wood and water, they were to cruize off the anchorage
for fifty-six days; and, if not joined by the commodore in that time,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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