A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: 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 12: 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
As we saw great numbers of the natives on horseback a-breast of the
ship, and as Captain Carteret informed me that this was the place where
Commodore Byron had the conference with the tall men, I sent the
lieutenants of the Swallow and the store-ship to the shore, but with
orders not to land, as the ships were at too great a distance to protect
them. When these gentlemen returned, they told me, that the boat having
lain upon her oars very near the beach, the natives came down in great
numbers; whom they knew to be the same persons they had seen the day
before, with many others, particularly women and children; that when
they perceived our people had no design to land, they seemed to be
greatly disappointed, and those who had been on board the ship waded off
to the boat, making signs for it to advance, and pronouncing the words
they had been taught, "Englishmen come on shore," very loud, many times;
that when they found they could not get the people to land, they would
fain have got into the boat, and that it was with great difficulty they
were prevented. That they presented them with some bread, tobacco, and a
few toys, pointing at the same time to some guanicoes and ostriches, and
making signs that they wanted them as provisions, but that they could
not make themselves understood; that finding they could obtain no
refreshment, they rowed along the shore in search of fresh water, but
that, seeing no appearance of a rivulet, they returned on board.
At six o'clock the next morning, we weighed, the Swallow being still
a-head, and at noon we anchored in Possession Bay, having twelve fathom,
with a clean sandy bottom. Point Possession at this time bore east,
distant three leagues; the Asses Ears west, and the entrance of the
Narrows S.W. 1/2 W.: The bottom of the bay, which was the nearest land
to the ship, was distant about three miles. We saw a great number of
Indians upon the Point, and at night, large fires on the Terra del Fuego
shore.
From this time, to the 22d, we had strong gales and heavy seas, so that
we got on but slowly; and we now anchored in 18 fathom, with a muddy
bottom. The Asses Ears bore N.W. by W. 1/2 W. Point Possession N.E. by
E. and the point of the Narrows, on the south side, S.S.W. distant
between three and four leagues. In this situation, our longitude, by
observation, was 70° 20' W. latitude 52° 30' S. The tide here sets S.E.
by S. and N.E. by N. at the rate of about three knots an hour; the water
rises four-and-twenty feet, and at this time it was high water at four
in the morning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account