Clever as a navigator, Wallis understood how to obtain from a hasty and incomplete equipment unexpected resources, which enabled him to bring an adventurous enterprise to a successful close. He is equally to be honoured for his humanity and the efforts he made to collect reliable information of the countries he visited. Had he only been accompanied by special men of science, there is no doubt that their scientific harvest would have been abundant. The fault lay with the Admiralty. We have related how, on the 10th of April, 1767, as the _Dauphin_ and the _Swallow_ entered the Pacific, the former, carried away by a strong breeze, had lost sight of the latter, and had been unable to follow her. This separation was most unfortunate for Captain Carteret. He knew better than any of his crew the dilapidated condition of his vessel and the insufficiency of his provisions. In short, he was well aware that he could only hope to meet the _Dauphin_ in England, as no plan of operation had been arranged, and no rendezvous had been named--a grave omission on Wallis' part, who was aware of the condition of his consort. Nevertheless, Carteret allowed none of his apprehensions to come to the knowledge of the crew. At first the detestable weather experienced by the _Swallow_ upon the Pacific Ocean (most misleading name), allowed no time for reflection. The dangers of the passing moment, in which there was every prospect of their being engulfed, hid from them the perils of the future. Carteret steered for the north, by the coast of Chili. Upon investigating the quantity of soft water which he had on board, he found it quite insufficient for the voyage he had undertaken. He determined therefore, before setting sail for the west, to take in water at Juan Fernandez, or at Mas-a-Fuero. The weather continued wretched. Upon the evening of the 27th a sudden squall was followed by a rising wind, which carried the vessel straight to the Cape. The violence of the storm failed to carry away the masts or to founder the ship. The tempest continued in all its fury, and the sails being extremely wet, clung round the masts and rigging so closely, that it was impossible to work them. Next day a sudden wave broke the mizen-mast, just where there was a flaw in the sail, and submerged the vessels for a few moments. The storm only abated sufficiently to allow the crew of the _Swallow_ time to recover a little, and to repair the worst damage; then recommenced, and continued with violent squalls until the 7th of May. The wind then became favourable, and three days later Juan Fernandez was reached. Carteret was not aware that the Spaniards had fortified this island. He was, therefore, extremely surprised at seeing a large number of men upon the shore, and at perceiving a battery of four pieces on the beach, and a fort, pierced with twenty embrasures and surmounted by the Spanish flag, upon a hill.