A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed BeforeDefoe, Daniel
General
A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before
Defoe, Daniel
Adventure stories; Voyages around the world -- Fiction
We made no more land till we came into the latitude of 62°, when we saw
some islands at a great distance, on both sides of us; we believed them
to be islands, because we saw many of them with large openings between.
But we were all so willing to get into a warmer climate, that we did not
incline to put in anywhere, till, having run thus fifteen days and the
wind still holding southerly, with small alteration and clear weather,
we could easily perceive the climate to change, and the weather grow
milder. And here taking an observation, I found we were in the latitude
of 50° 30', and that our meridian distance from the Ladrones west was
87°, being almost one semi-diameter of the globe, so that we could not
be far from the coast of America, which was my next design, and indeed
the chief design of the whole voyage.
On this expectation I changed my course a little, and went away
north-by-east, till by an observation I found myself in 47° 7', and then
standing away east for about eleven days more, we made the tops of the
Andes, the great mountains of Chili, in South America, to our great joy
and satisfaction, though at a very great distance.
We found our distance from the shore not less than twenty leagues, the
mountains being so very high; and our next business was to consider what
part of the Andes it must be, and to what port we should direct
ourselves first. Upon the whole, we found we were too much to the south
still, and resolved to make directly for the river or port of Valdivia,
or Baldivia, as it is sometimes called, in the latitude of 40°; so we
stood away to the north. The next day the pacific, quiet sea, as it is
termed, showed us a very frowning rough countenance, and proved the very
extreme of a contrary disposition; for it blew a storm of wind at
east-by-south, and drove us off the coast again, but it abated again for
a day or two; and then for six days together it blew excessive hard,
almost all at east, so that I found no possibility of getting into the
shore; and besides, I found that the winds came off that mountainous
country in squalls, and that the nearer we came to the hills the gusts
were the more violent. So I resolved to run for the island of Juan
Fernandez, to refresh ourselves there until the weather was settled; and
besides, we wanted fresh water very much.
The little that the wind stood southerly helped me in this run, and we
came in five days more, fair with the island, to our great joy, and
brought all our ships to an anchor as near the watering-place as is
usual, where we rode easy, though, the wind continued to blow very hard;
and being, I say, now about the middle of our voyage, I shall break off
my account here, as of the first part of my work, and begin again at our
departure from hence.
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