Chapter XL: Section XIII

_Short Account of what befell the Anna Pink before she rejoined; with an Account of the Loss of the Wager, and the putting back of the Severn and Pearl._

On the first recognition of the Anna pink, it seemed quite wonderful to us how the crew of a vessel, which had thus come to the rendezvous two months after us, should be capable of working their ship in the manner they did, and with so little appearance of debility and distress. This difficulty, however, was soon solved after she came to anchor; for we then found that she had been in harbour since the middle of May, near a month before our arrival at Juan Fernandez, so that their sufferings, excepting the risk they had run of being shipwrecked, were greatly short of what had been undergone by the rest of the squadron.

They fell in with the land on the 16th of May, in lat. 45° 15' S. being then about four leagues from shore. On the first sight of it, they wore ship and stood to the southward; but their fore-sail splitting, and the wind being strong at W.S.W. they drove towards the shore. The captain, either unable to clear the land, or, as others say, resolved to keep the sea no longer, steered now for the coast, in order to look out for some shelter among the many islands which appeared in sight, and had the good fortune to bring the ship to anchor to the eastward of the island of _Inchin_[1]. But, as they did not run sufficiently near the east shore of that island, and had not hands enough to veer away the cable briskly, they were soon driven to the eastwards, deepening their water from twenty-five to thirty-five fathoms. Still continuing to drive, they next day, being the 17th May, let go their sheet anchor, which brought them up for a short time: but on the 18th they drove again, till they came into sixty-five fathoms; and, being now within a mile of the land, they expected every moment to be forced on shore in a place where the coast was so very high and steep, that there was not the smallest prospect of saving the ship and cargo. As their boats were very leaky, and there was no appearance of a landing place, the whole crew, consisting of sixteen men and boys, gave themselves up for lost, believing, if even any of them happened to get on shore by some extraordinary chance, that they would be almost certainly massacred by the savages; as these people, knowing no other Europeans except Spaniards, might be expected to treat all strangers with the same cruelty which they have so often, and so signally, exercised against their Spanish neighbours.

[Footnote 1: The island of Inchin and the bay in which the Anna pink took shelter is in lat. 46° 30' S. long. 74° 30' in what is called the Peninsula de tres Montes, to the N. of the Golfo de Penas.--E.]

Under these terrifying circumstances, the Anna continued to drive towards the rocks which formed the shore; and at last, when expecting every instant to strike, they perceived a small opening in the land, which raised their hopes of safety. Wherefore, immediately cutting away their two anchors, they steered for this opening, which they found to be a narrow opening between an island and the main, which led them into a most excellent harbour; which, for its security against all winds and swells, and the consequent smoothness of its water, may perhaps vie with any in the known world: And this place being scarcely two miles from the spot where they deemed their destruction inevitable, the horrors of shipwreck and immediate death, with which they had been so long and strongly possessed, vanished almost in an instant, giving place to the most joyous ideas of security, refreshment, and repose.

In this harbour, discovered almost by miracle, the Anna came to anchor in twenty-five fathoms, with only a hawser and small anchor of about three hundred weight. Here she continued for near two months, and her people, who were many of them ill of the scurvy, were soon restored to perfect health by the fresh provisions, which they procured in abundance, and the excellent water which they found in plenty on the adjacent shore. As this place may prove of the greatest importance to future navigators forced upon this coast by the western winds, which are almost perpetual in that part of the world, it may be proper to give the best account that could be collected of this port, as to its situation, conveniences, and productions, before continuing the adventures of the Anna pink. To facilitate, also, the knowledge of this place, to such as may be desirous hereafter of using it, there is annexed a plan both of the harbour and the large bay before it, through which the Anna drifted. This plan, perhaps, may not be in all respects as accurate as could be wished, being composed from the memorandums and rude sketches of the master and surgeon, who were not the most able draughtsmen; but, as the principal parts were laid down by their estimates of their distances from each other, in which kind of computation seamen are commonly very dextrous, the errors are probably not very considerable.

The latitude, which certainly is a very material point, was not very accurately ascertained, as the Anna had no observation either on the day she got there, or within a day of leaving the bay; but is supposed to be not very distant from 45° 30' S.[2] But the large extent of the bay, at the bottom of which the harbour is situated, renders this uncertainty of the less importance. The island lying before this bay, called _Inchin_ by the Indians, is supposed to be one of the islands named _Chonos_ by the Spanish accounts, and said to spread along all this coast,[3] being inhabited by a barbarous people, famous for their hatred to the Spaniards, and their cruelty to such of that nation as have fallen into their hands. It is even possible that the land in which this harbour is situated may be one of these islands, while the continent may be considerably to the eastward. This harbour, besides its depth of water and complete shelter, has two coves, where ships may very conveniently be hove down, as the water is constantly smooth. There are also several fine runs of excellent fresh water, which fall into the harbour, some so conveniently situated that the casks may be filled in the long-boat by means of a hose. The most remarkable of these is a stream in the N.E. part of the harbour, being a fresh-water river, where the crew of the Anna caught a few mullets of excellent flavour, and they were persuaded that it would be found to have plenty of fish in the proper season, it being winter when they were there.

[Footnote 2: This has already, on the authority of Arrowsmith, been stated at 46° 30' S.]

[Footnote 3: The gulf and archipelago of Chonos, or Guaytecas, one of the islands of which is Socora, or Guayteca, is considerably to the N. of Inchin, between the peninsula de tres Montes and the island of Chiloe, the centre of that archipelago being in lat. 45° S.--E.]

The principal refreshments of green vegetables met with at this port were wild cellery, nettle-tops, and the like, which, after so long a continuance at sea, were highly acceptable. We got abundance of shell-fish, as cockles and muscles of great size and delicious flavour, with plenty of geese, shags, and penguins. Though in the depth of winter the climate was by no means extremely rigorous, neither were the trees or the face of the country destitute of verdure; whence it may be concluded, that many other kinds of fresh provisions would doubtless be found there in summer. Notwithstanding the relations of the Spaniards respecting the violence and barbarity of the inhabitants, it does not appear that their numbers are sufficient to excite any apprehensions in the crew of a ship of any size, or that their dispositions are by any means so mischievous or merciless as has been represented. With all these advantages, this place is so far from the frontiers of the Spanish settlements, and so little known to the Spaniards themselves, that, with proper precautions, there is reason to believe a ship might remain here a long time undiscovered. It is also capable of being made a very defensible port; as, by possessing the island that closes tip the port or inner harbour, which island is only accessible in a very few places, a small force might easily secure this port against all the force which the Spaniards could muster in that part of the world. For this island is so steep towards the harbour, having six fathoms close to the shore, that the Anna anchored within forty yards of its coast; whence it is obvious how difficult it would prove, either to board or cut out any vessel protected by a force posted on shore within pistol-shot, and where those thus posted could not be themselves attacked. All these circumstances seem to render this port worthy of a more accurate examination; and it is to be hoped that this rude attempt to suggest, may hereafter recommend it to the consideration of the public, and the attention of those who are more immediately entrusted with the conduct of our naval affairs.

After this account of the place where the Anna lay for two months, it may be expected that I should relate the discoveries made by her crew upon the adjacent coast, and the principal incidents that occurred during their stay here. But, as they were only a few in number, they durst not venture to detach any of their people on distant searches, being under continual apprehensions of being attacked either by the Spaniards or Indians, so that their excursions were generally confined to the tract of land surrounding the port, where they were never out of view of the ship: Even if they had known from the first how little grounds there were for these fears, yet the neighbouring country was so overgrown with wood, and so traversed by mountains, that it appeared impracticable to penetrate to any distance, so that no account of the interior could be expected. They were, however, in a condition to disprove the relations given by Spanish writers, who have represented this coast as inhabited by a fierce and powerful people, as no such inhabitants were to be found, at least in the winter season; for, during the whole time of their continuance here, they never saw any more than one small Indian family, which came into the harbour in a periagua, or canoe, about a month after the arrival of the Anna, and consisted only of one Indian man, near forty years of age, his wife, and two children, one about three years of age, and the other still on the breast. They seemed to have with them all their property, consisting of a dog and cat, a fishing net, a hatchet, a knife, a cradle, some bark of trees, intended for covering a hut, a reel with some worsted, a flint and steel, and a few roots of a yellow hue, and very disagreeable taste, which served them for bread.

As soon as these were perceived, the master of the Anna sent his yawl and brought them on board; and, lest they might discover him to the Spaniards if permitted to go away, he took proper precautions, as he conceived, for securing them, but without violence or ill usage, as they were permitted to go about the ship where they pleased in the day time, but were locked up in the forecastle at night. As they were fed in the same manner with the crew, and were often indulged with brandy, which they seemed greatly to relish, it did not appear at first that they were much dissatisfied with their situation. The master took the Indian on shore when he went to shoot, and he seemed always much delighted on seeing the game killed. The crew also treated them with great humanity; but it was soon apparent, though the woman continued easy and cheerful, that the man grew pensive and discontented at his confinement. He seemed to have good natural parts, and though utterly unable to converse with our people otherwise than by signs, was yet very curious and inquisitive, and showed great dexterity in his manner of making himself understood. Seeing so few people on board so large a ship, he seemed to express his opinion that they had once been more numerous, and, by way of representing what he imagined had become of their companions, he laid himself on the deck, closing his eyes, and stretching himself out motionless, as if to imitate the appearance of a dead body.

The strongest proof of his sagacity was the manner of his getting away. After having been on board the Anna for eight days, the scuttle of the forecastle, where he and his family were locked up every night, happened to be left unnailed, and on the following night, which was extremely dark and stormy, he contrived to convey his wife and children through the scuttle, and then over the ship's side into the yawl, and immediately rowed on shore, using the precaution to cut away the long-boat and his own periagua, which were towing astern, to prevent being pursued. He conducted all this with so much silence and secrecy, that, though there was a watch on the quarter-deck with loaded arms, he was not discovered by them till the noise of his oars in the water gave notice of his escape, after he had put off from the ship, when it was too late either to prevent or pursue him. Besides, as their boats were all adrift, it was some time before they could contrive the means of getting on shore to search for their boats. By this effort, besides regaining his liberty, the Indian was in some measure revenged on those who had confined him, both by the perplexity they were in for the loss of their boats, and by the terror occasioned by his departure; for, on the first alarm of the watch, who cried, "The Indians," the whole crew were in the utmost confusion, believing that the ship had been boarded by a whole fleet of armed canoes.

Had the resolution and sagacity with which this Indian behaved on this occasion, been exerted on a more extensive object, it might have immortalized the exploit, and given him a rank among the illustrious names of antiquity. The people of the Anna, indeed, allowed that it was a most gallant enterprise, and were grieved at having thus been under the necessity, from attention to their own safety, to abridge the liberty of one who had now given so distinguished a proof of courage and prudence. As he was supposed still to continue in the woods near the port, where he might suffer for want of provisions, they easily prevailed on the master to leave a quantity of such food as they thought would be most agreeable to him in a place where he was likely to find it, and there was reason to believe this was not altogether without its use, for, on visiting the place afterwards, the provisions were gone, and in a manner that made them conclude they had fallen into his hands.

Although many of the crew of the Anna believed that this Indian still continued in the neighbourhood, there were some who strongly suspected he might have gone off to the island of Chiloe, where they feared he would alarm the Spaniards, and would soon return with a force sufficient to surprise or overpower the Anna. The master was therefore prevailed upon to discontinue firing the evening gun, and there is a particular reason for attending to this circumstance, to be explained hereafter; for he had hitherto, from an ostentatious imitation of the men-of-war, fired a gun every evening at setting the night watch. This, as he pretended, was to awe the enemy, if there were any within hearing, and to convince them that his ship was always on her guard. The crew being now well refreshed, and their wood and water sufficiently replenished, he put to sea a few days after the escape of the Indian, and had a fortunate passage to the rendezvous at Juan Fernandez, where he arrived on the 16th of August, as already mentioned.

The remaining ships of the squadron, none of which rejoined the commodore, were the Severn, Pearl, and Wager, of the fate of which it may be proper to make mention. The Severn and Pearl parted company from the commodore off Cape Voir; and, as we afterwards learnt, put back to Brazil. The Wager had on board a few field-pieces, and some coehorn-mortars, mounted for land service, with several kinds of artillery stores and pioneers tools, intended for operations on shore. And, as an enterprise had been planned against Baldivia, for the first operation of the squadron, Captain Cheap was extremely solicitous that these articles might be forthcoming, and determined to use his endeavours for that purpose, that no delay or disappointment might be imputed to him, not knowing the state the squadron was reduced to. While making the best of his way, with these views, to the first appointed rendezvous, off Socoro, whence he proposed to proceed for Baldivia, the Wager made the land on the 14th of May, about the latitude of 47° S. and while Captain Cheap was exerting himself in order to get clear of the land, he had the misfortune to fall down the after-ladder, by which he dislocated his shoulder, and was rendered incapable of acting. This accident, together with the crazy condition of the ship, which was little better than a wreck, prevented her from getting off to sea, and entangled her more and more with the land; insomuch, that at day-break next morning, the 15th May, she struck on a sunken rock, and soon afterwards bilged, and grounded between two small islands, about musket-shot from the shore.

In this situation the ship continued entire a long time, so that all the crew might have got safe on shore. But a general confusion ensued; many of them, instead of consulting their safety, or reflecting on their calamitous condition, fell to pillaging the ship, arming themselves with the first weapons that came to hand, and threatening to murder all who should oppose their proceedings. This frenzy was greatly heightened by the liquors they found on board, with which they made themselves so excessively intoxicated, that some fell down into the hold, where they were drowned, as the water flowed into the wreck. Having done his utmost, ineffectually, to get the whole crew on shore, the captain was at last obliged to leave the mutineers behind, and to follow his officers on shore, with such few men as he could prevail upon to accompany him; but did not fail to send back the boats, with a message to those who remained, entreating them to have some regard to their own preservation. All his efforts, however, were for some time in vain; but next day, the weather proving stormy, and there being great danger of the ship going to pieces, the refractory part of the crew began to be afraid of perishing, and were desirous of getting to land; and, in their madness, as the boat did not come to fetch them off so soon as they wished, they pointed a four-pounder from the quarter-deck, against the hut in which the captain resided on shore, and fired two shots, which passed just over its roof.

From this specimen of the behaviour of part of the crew, some idea may be formed of the disorder and anarchy which prevailed when they at length got all on shore. For the men conceived that the authority of their officers was at an end, in consequence of the loss of the ship; and, as they were now upon an inhospitable coast, where scarcely any other provisions could be got beyond what could be saved from the wreck, this was another insurmountable source of discord: for the working upon the wreck, and securing the provisions on shore, so that they might be preserved as much as possible for future exigencies, and that they might be sparingly and equally distributed for present subsistence, were matters, however important, that could not be brought about unless by means of discipline and subordination. At the same time, the mutinous disposition of the people, stimulated by the immediate impulses of hunger, rendered every regulation attempted for these indispensable purposes, quite unavailing; so that there were continual frauds, concealments, and thefts, which animated every one against his neighbour, and produced infinite contentions and perpetual quarrels. Hence a perverse and malevolent disposition was constantly kept up among them, which rendered them utterly ungovernable.

Besides these heart-burnings, occasioned by petulance and hunger, there was another important point which set the greatest part of the people at variance with the captain. This was their difference in opinion from him, on the measures proper to be pursued on the present emergency; for the captain was determined, if possible, to fit out the boats in the best manner he could, and to proceed with them to the northward, as, having above two hundred men in health, and having saved some fire-arms and ammunition from the wreck, he had no doubt of being able to master any Spanish, vessel they might fall in with in these seas, and he thought that he could not fail of meeting with one in the neighbourhood of Chiloe or Baldivia, in which, when taken, he proposed to proceed to the rendezvous at Juan Fernandez. He also insisted, should they even meet with no prize by the way, that the boats alone could easily carry them to Juan Fernandez. But this scheme, however prudent and practicable, was by no means relished by the generality of the people; for, quite jaded and disgusted with the fatigues, dangers, and distresses they had already encountered, they could not be persuaded to prosecute an enterprize which had hitherto proved so disastrous. The common resolution, therefore, was to lengthen the long-boat, and, with her and the other boats, to steer to the southwards, to pass through the Straits of Magellan, and to range along the eastern coast of South America, till they came to Brazil, where they had no doubt of being well received, and procuring a passage to Britain.

This project was evidently a vast deal more tedious, and infinitely more hazardous, than that proposed by the captain; but, as it had the air of returning home, and flattered them with the hope of getting once more to their native country, that circumstance rendered them blind to all its inconveniences, and made them adhere to it with insurmountable obstinacy. The captain was therefore obliged to give way to the torrent, though he never changed his opinion, and had, in appearance, to acquiesce in this resolution, though he gave it all the obstruction he could, particularly in regard to lengthening the long-boat, which he contrived should be of such a size, as, though it might carry them to Juan Fernandez, he yet hoped might appear incapable of so long a navigation as that to the coast of Brazil. But the captain, by his steady opposition at first to this favourite project, had much embittered the people against him, to which, also, the following unhappy accident greatly contributed.

A midshipman, named Cozens, had appeared the foremost in all the refractory proceedings of the crew, had involved himself in brawls with most of the officers who had adhered to the authority of the captain, and had even treated the captain himself with much insolence and abuse. As his turbulence and brutality grew every day more and more intolerable, it was not in the least doubted that some violent measures were in agitation, in which Cozens was engaged as the ringleader; for which reason the captain, and those about him, constantly kept themselves on their guard. One day the purser having stopped, by order of the captain, the allowance of a fellow who would not work, Cozens, though the man had not complained to him, intermeddled in the affair with great bitterness, and grossly insulted the purser, who was then delivering out the provisions close by the captain's tent, and was himself sufficiently violent. Enraged by his scurrility, and perhaps piqued by former quarrels, the purser cried out, _A mutiny_; adding, _the dog has pistols_, and then immediately fired himself a pistol at Cozens, but missed him. On hearing this outcry, and the report of the pistol, the captain rushed out from his tent, and not doubting that it had been fired by Cozens as the commencement of a mutiny, immediately shot him in the head without farther enquiry. Though he did not die on the spot, the wound proved mortal in about a fortnight.

Though this accident was sufficiently displeasing to the people, it yet awed them for a considerable time to their duty, and rendered them more submissive to the authority of the captain. But at last, towards the middle of October, when, the long-boat was finished, and they were preparing to put to sea, the additional provocation given them, by covertly traversing their project of proceeding through the Straits of Magellan, and their fears that he might at length engage a sufficient party to overturn this favourite measure, made them resolve to take advantage of the death of Cozens as a reason for depriving him of his command, under pretence of carrying him a prisoner to England to be tried for murder, and he was accordingly confined under a guard. Yet they never meant to carry him with them, as they too well knew what they might expect on their return to England, if their commander should be present to confront them; and therefore, when just ready to depart, they set him at liberty, leaving him, and the few who chose to take their fortunes along with him, no other embarkation but the yawl, to which the barge was afterwards added, by the people on board her being prevailed upon to turn back.

When the ship was wrecked, there were about one hundred and thirty persons alive on board; above thirty of whom died on the place where they landed, and nearly eight went off in the long-boat and cutter to the southward; after whose departure, there remained no more than nineteen persons along with the captain, which were as many, however, as the barge and yawl could well carry, these being the only embarkations left them. It was on the 13th of October, five months after the shipwreck, that the long-boat, converted into a schooner, weighed and sailed to the southwards, giving three cheers at their departure to the captain and Lieutenant Hamilton of the land-forces, and the surgeon, who were then standing on the beach. On the 29th of January, 1742, they arrived at Rio Grande, on the coast of Brazil; but having, by various accidents, left about twenty of their people on shore at the different places where they touched, and a still greater number having perished of famine in the course of their navigation, there were not more than thirty of them remaining, when they arrived at that port. This undertaking was certainly most extraordinary in itself; for, not to mention the great length of the voyage, the vessel was scarcely able to contain the number that first put to sea in her; and their stock of provisions, being only what they saved from the ship, diminished by five months expenditure on shore, was extremely slender. They had also this additional misfortune, that the cutter, the only boat they had along with them, broke loose from their stern, and was staved to pieces, so that, when their provisions and water failed, they had frequently no means of getting on shore in search of a supply.

The captain and those who remained with him, now proposed to proceed to the northward in the barge and yawl; but the weather was so bad, and the difficulty of subsisting so great, that it was two months after the departure of the long boat, before they were able to put to sea. It seems that the place where the Wager was lost, was not a part of the continent, but an island at some distance from the main, affording no other sort of provisions besides shell-fish, and a few herbs; and, as the greatest part of what they had saved out of the wreck had been carried off in the long-boat, the captain and his people were often in extreme want of food, especially as they chose to preserve what little remained to them of the ship's provisions, to serve them as sea-store, when they should proceed to the northward. During their residence at this place, which was called Wager Island by the seamen, they were now and then visited by a straggling canoe or two of Indians, who came and bartered their fish and other provisions with our people. This was some little relief to their necessities, and might perhaps have been greater at another season; for there were several Indian huts on the shore, whence it was supposed that, in some years, many of these savages might resort thither in the height of summer, to catch fish. Indeed, from what has been related in the account of the Anna pink, it would seem to be the general practice of these Indians, to frequent this coast in the summer season, for the purpose of fishing, and to retire more to the northwards in winter, into a better climate.

It is worthy of remark, how much it is to be lamented that the people of the Wager had no knowledge of the Anna pink being so near them on the coast;[4] for, as she was not above thirty leagues from them at the most, and came into that neighbourhood about the same time that the Wager was lost, and was a fine roomy ship, she could easily have taken them all on board, and have carried them to Juan Fernandez. Indeed, I suspect that she was still nearer them than is here estimated; for, at different times, several of the people belonging to the Wager heard the report of a cannon, which could be no other than the evening gun fired by the Anna, as formerly mentioned, more especially as the gun heard at Wager Island was at that time of the day.

[Footnote 4: Inchin island, where the Anna pink lay, has been formerly stated to be in lat. 46° 30' S. the supposed latitude in which the Wager was lost, stated in the text at 47° S. is only _ten_ marine leagues to the southward, instead of _thirty_, and must therefore have been on some one of the islands toward the southern coast of the peninsula de Tres Montes, on the north of the Golfo de Penas.--E.]

Captain Cheap and his people embarked in the barge and yawl, on the 14th of December, in order to proceed to the northward, taking on board along with them all the provisions they could gather from the wreck of the ship; but they had scarcely been an hour at sea, when the wind began to blow hard, and the sea to run so high, that they were obliged to throw the greatest part of their provisions overboard, to avoid immediate destruction. This was a terrible misfortune, in a part of the world where food was so difficult to be got; yet they persisted in their design, going on shore as often as they could, in search of subsistence. About a fortnight after their departure from Wager island, another dreadful accident befel them, as the yawl sunk at an anchor, and one of her hands was drowned; and, as the barge was incapable of carrying the whole company, they were reduced to the hard necessity of leaving four marines behind them, on that desolate coast. They still, however, kept their course to the northward; though greatly delayed by cross winds, and by the frequent interruptions occasioned by the necessity of searching for food on shore, and constantly struggling with a series of the most sinister events. At length, about the end of January, 1742, having made three unsuccessful attempts to double a head-land, which they supposed to be that called Cape _Tres Montes_ by the Spaniards, and finding the difficulty insurmountable, they unanimously resolved to return to Wager Island, which they effected about the middle of February, quite disheartened and desponding, through their reiterated disappointments, and almost perishing with hunger and fatigue.

On their return, they had the good fortune to fall in with several pieces of beef, swimming in the sea, which had been washed out of the wreck, which afforded them a most seasonable relief, after the hardships they had endured. To complete their good fortune, there came shortly afterwards to the place two canoes with Indians, among whom there happened to be a native of Chiloe, who spoke a little Spanish. The surgeon who accompanied Captain Cheap understood that language, and made a bargain with the Chiloe Indian, that, if he would carry the captain and his people in the barge to Chiloe, he should have her and all her furniture for his reward. Accordingly, on the 6th of March, the eleven persons, to which the company was now reduced, embarked again in the barge on this new expedition. After having proceeded a few days, the captain and four of his principal officers being on shore, the six, who remained in the barge along with an Indian, shoved her off and put to sea, and never returned again.

Captain Cheap, together with Mr Hamilton, lieutenant of marines, the honourable Mr Byron and Mr Campbell, midshipmen, and Mr Elliot, the surgeon, were thus left on shore in the most deplorable situation imaginable. It might be thought that their distresses, long before this time, were hardly capable of being increased: Yet they found their present situation much more dismaying than any thing they had hitherto experienced; being left on a desert coast, far from the haunts of men, without provisions, or the means of procuring any, and with no visible prospect of relief; for their arms and ammunition, and every convenience that had hitherto remained to them, except the few tattered garments they had on, were all carried away in the barge. While revolving the various circumstances of this new and unlooked-for calamity, and sadly persuaded that they had no possible relief to hope for, they perceived a canoe at a distance, which proved to be that belonging to the Indian of Chiloe, who had undertaken to convey them to that island. He it seems had left Captain Cheap and his people, only a little before, to go a fishing in his canoe, accompanied by his family, leaving the barge in the mean time under the care of the other Indian, whom the sailors had carried with them to sea. When he came on shore, and found the barge and his companion gone, he was much concerned, and was with difficulty persuaded that his companion had not been murdered; yet, being at last satisfied with the account that was given him by Mr Elliot, he still undertook to carry them to the Spanish settlements, and, being well skilled in fishing and fowling, he undertook also to provide them in provisions by the way.

About the middle of March, Captain Cheap and his four remaining companions set out for Chiloe; their Indian conductor having provided several canoes, and gathered many of his countrymen together for that purpose. Mr Elliot, the surgeon, soon afterwards died, so that there now only remained four of the whole company. At last, after a very complicated passage, partly by sea and partly by land, Captain Cheap, Mr Byron, and Mr Campbell, arrived at the island of Chiloe, where they were received by the Spaniards with great humanity; but, on account of some quarrel among the Indians, Mr Hamilton did not get there till two months later. It was thus above a twelvemonth, from the loss of the Wager, before this fatiguing peregrination terminated. The four who now remained were brought so extremely low, by their fatigues and privations, that in all probability none of them would have survived, had their distresses continued only a few days longer. The captain was with difficulty recovered; and the rest were so reduced by labour, the severity of the weather, scantiness of food, and want of all kinds of necessaries, that it was wonderful how they had supported themselves so long.

After some stay at Chiloe, the captain and the other three who were with him, were sent to Valparaiso, and thence to St Jago, the capital of Chili, where they continued above a year, and where they were joined by Mr Hamilton. News arriving that a cartel had been settled between Great Britain and Spain, Captain Cheap, Mr Byron, and Mr Hamilton, were permitted to return to Europe in a French ship. Mr Campbell, the other midshipman, having changed his religion while at St Jago, chose to go from thence to Buenos Ayres along with Pizarro and his officers, overland, and went with them afterwards to Spain in the Asia: But failing in his endeavours to procure a commission from the court of Spain, he returned to England, and attempted in vain to get reinstated in the British navy. He has since published a narration of his adventures in which he complains of the injustice that has been done him and strongly disavows having ever been in the Spanish service: but, as the change of his religion and his offering himself to the court of Spain, though he was not accepted, are matters which he must be conscious can be incontestably proved, he has been entirely silent on these two heads.[5]

[Footnote 5: The circumstances connected with the loss of the Wager, and of the separation of the Severn and the Pearl, will be given more at large, by way of supplement to the circumnavigation. The incidents which occur to bold and unfortunate navigators are certainly curious and interesting; but the author of Anson's Voyage seems to have forgotten, that the circumstances respecting the countries they visited, especially such of these which are so little known, are of infinitely greater utility.--E.]