Chapter II: Part 2

These being a desperate and factious set, did not distress us much by their departure, but rather added to our future security: one in particular, James Mitchell by name, we had all the reason in the world to think had committed no less than two murders since the loss of our ship; one on the person found strangled on board, another on the body of a man whom we discovered among some bushes upon Mount Misery, stabbed in several places, and shockingly mangled. This diminution of our numbers was succeeded by an unfortunate accident much more affecting in its consequences, I mean the death of Mr. Cozens, midshipman; in relating which with the necessary impartiality and exactness, I think myself obliged to be more than ordinarily particular. Having one day, among other things, got a cask of peas out of the wreck, about which I was almost constantly employed, I brought it to shore in the yawl; when having landed it, the captain came down upon the beach, and bid me to go up to some of the tents and order hands to come down and roll it up; but finding none except Mr. Cozens, I delivered him the orders, who immediately came down to the captain, where I left them when I returned to the wreck. Upon my coming on shore again, I found that Mr. Cozens was put under confinement by the captain, for being drunk and giving him abusive language: however, he was soon after released. A day or two after, he had some dispute with the surgeon, and came to blows: all these things incensed the captain greatly against him. I believe this unfortunate man was kept warm with liquor, and set on by some ill-designing persons; for, when sober, I never knew a better natured man, or one more inoffensive. Some little time after, at the hour of serving out provisions, Mr. Cozens was at the store tent; and having, it seems, lately had a quarrel with the purser, and now some words arising between them, the latter told him he was come to mutiny; and without any further ceremony, fired a pistol at his head, which narrowly missed him. The captain, hearing the report of a pistol, and perhaps the purser's words, that Cozens was come to mutiny, ran out of his hut with a cocked pistol in his hand, and, without asking any questions, immediately shot him through the head. I was at this time in my hut, as the weather was extremely bad; but running out upon the alarm of this firing, the first thing I saw was Mr. Cozens on the ground, weltering in his blood: he was sensible, and took me by the hand, as he did several others, shaking his head, as if he meant to take leave of us. If Mr. Cozens' behaviour to his captain was indecent and provoking, the captain's, on the other hand, was rash and hasty: if the first was wanting in that respect and observance which is due from a petty officer to his commander, the latter was still more unadvised in the method he took for the enforcement of his authority; of which, indeed, he was jealous to the last degree, and which he saw daily declining, and ready to be trampled upon. His mistaken apprehension of a mutinous design in Mr. Cozens, the sole motive of this rash action, was so far from answering the end he proposed by it, that the men, who before were much dissatisfied and uneasy, were by this unfortunate step thrown almost into open sedition and revolt. It was evident that the people, who ran out of their tents, alarmed by the report of fire-arms, though they disguised their real sentiments for the present, were extremely affected at this catastrophe of Mr. Cozens (for he was greatly beloved by them): their minds were now exasperated, and it was to be apprehended, that their resentment, which was smothered for the present, would shortly shew itself in some desperate enterprise. The unhappy victim, who lay weltering in his blood on the ground before them, seemed to absorb their whole attention; the eyes of all were fixed upon him; and visible marks of the deepest concern appeared in the countenances of the spectators. The persuasion the captain was under, at the time he shot Mr. Cozens, that his intentions were mutinous, together with a jealousy of the diminution of his authority, occasioned also his behaving with less compassion and tenderness towards him afterwards than was consistent with the unhappy condition of the poor sufferer: for when it was begged as a favour by his mess-mates, that Mr. Cozens might be removed to their tent, though a necessary thing in his dangerous situation, yet it was not permitted; but the poor wretch was suffered to languish on the ground some days, with no other covering than a bit of canvass thrown over some bushes, where he died. But to return to our story: the Captain, addressing himself to the people thus assembled, told them, that it was his resolution to maintain his command over them as usual, which still remained in as much force as ever; and then ordered them all to return to their respective tents, with which order they instantly complied. Now we had saved the long-boat from the wreck, and got it in our possession, there was nothing that seemed so necessary towards the advancing our delivery from this desolate place, as the new modelling this vessel so as to have room for all those who were inclined to go off in her, and to put her in a condition to bear the stormy seas we must of course encounter. We therefore hauled her up, and having placed her upon blocks, sawed her in two, in order to lengthen her about twelve feet by the keel. For this purpose, all those who could be spared from the more immediate task of procuring subsistence, were employed in fitting and shaping timber as the carpenter directed them; I say, in procuring subsistence, because the weather lately having been very tempestuous, and the wreck working much, had disgorged a great part of her contents, which were every where dispersed about the shore.

We now sent frequent parties up the Lagoons, which sometimes succeeded in getting some sea-fowl for us. The Indians appearing again in the offing we put off our yawl, in order to frustrate any design they might have of going up the Lagoon towards the deserters, who would have availed themselves of some of their canoes to have got upon the main. Having conducted them in, we found that their intention was to settle among us, for they had brought their wives and children with them, in all about fifty persons, who immediately set about building themselves wigwams, and seemed much reconciled to our company; and, could we have entertained them as we ought, they would have been of great assistance to us, who were yet extremely put to it to subsist ourselves, being a hundred in number; but the men, now subject to little or no control, endeavoured to seduce their wives, which gave the Indians such offence, that in a short time they found means to depart, taking every thing along with them; and we, being sensible of the cause, never expected to see them return again. The carpenter having made some progress in his work upon the long-boat, in which he was enabled to proceed tolerably, by the tools and other articles of his business retrieved from the wreck, the men began to think of the course they should take to get home; or rather, having borrowed Sir John Narborough's Voyage of Captain Cheap, by the application of Mr. Bulkely, which book he saw me reading one day in my tent, they, immediately upon perusing it, concluded upon making their voyage home by the Straits of Magellan. This plan was proposed to the captain, who by no means approved of it, his design being to go northwards, with a view of seizing a ship of the enemy's, by which means he might join the Commodore: at present, therefore, here it rested. But the men were in high spirits from the prospect they had of getting off in the long-boat, overlooking all the difficulties and hazards of a voyage almost impracticable, and caressing the carpenter, who indeed was an excellent workman, and deserved all the encouragement they could give him. The Indians having left us, and the weather continuing tempestuous and rainy, the distresses of the people for want of food become insupportable. Our number, which was at first one hundred and forty-five, was now reduced to one hundred, and chiefly by famine, which put the rest upon all shifts and devices to support themselves. One day, when I was at home in my hut with my Indian dog, a party came to my door, and told me their necessities were such, that they must eat the creature or starve. Though their plea was urgent, I could not help using some arguments to endeavour to dissuade them from killing him, as his faithful services and fondness deserved it at my hands; but, without weighing my arguments, they took him away by force and killed him; upon which, thinking that I had at least as good a right to a share as the rest, I sat down with them, and partook of their repast. Three weeks after that I was glad to make a meal of his paws and skin, which, upon recollecting the spot where they had killed him, I found thrown aside and rotten. The pressing calls of hunger drove our men to their wit's end, and put them upon a variety of devices to satisfy it. Among the ingenious this way, one Phips, a boatswain's mate, having got a water puncheon, scuttled it; then lashing two logs, one on each side, set out in quest of adventures in this extraordinary and original piece of embarkation. By this means he would frequently, when all the rest were starving, provide himself with wild fowl; and it must have been very bad weather indeed which could deter him from putting out to sea when his occasions required. Sometimes he would venture far out in the offing, and be absent the whole of the day: at last, it was his misfortune, at a great distance from shore, to be overset by a heavy sea; but being near a rock, though no swimmer, he managed so as to scramble to it, and with great difficulty ascended it: there he remained two days with very little hopes of any relief, for he was too far off to be seen from shore; but fortunately a boat, having put off and gone in quest of wild fowl that way, discovered him making such signals as he was able, and brought him back to the island. But this accident did not so discourage him but that soon after, having procured an ox's hide, used on board for sifting powder, and called a gunner's hide, by the assistance of some hoops he formed something like a canoe, in which he made several successful voyages. When the weather would permit us, we seldom failed of getting some wild fowl, though never in any plenty, by putting off with our boats; but this most inhospitable climate is not only deprived of the sun for the most part, by a thick, rainy atmosphere, but is also visited by almost incessant tempests. It must be confessed, we reaped some benefit from these hard gales and overgrown seas, which drove several things ashore; but there was no dependence on such accidental relief; and we were always alert to avail ourselves of every interval of fair weather, though so little to be depended on, that we were often unexpectedly and to our peril overtaken by a sudden change. In one of our excursions I, with two more, in a wretched punt of our own making, had no sooner landed at our station upon a high rock, than the punt was driven loose by a sudden squall; and had not one of the men, at the risk of his life, jumped into the sea and swam on board her, we must in all probability have perished; for we were more than three leagues from the island at the time. Among the birds we generally shot, was the painted goose, whose plumage is variegated with the most lively colours; and a bird much larger than a goose, which we called the race-horse, from the velocity with which it moved upon the surface of the water, in a sort of half flying, half running motion. But we were not so successful in our endeavours by land; for though we sometimes got pretty far into the woods, we met with very few birds in all our walks. We never saw but three woodcocks, two of which were killed by Mr. Hamilton, and one by myself. These, with some humming-birds, and a large kind of robin redbreast, were the only feathered inhabitants of this island, excepting a small bird with two very long feathers in his tail, which was generally seen amongst the rocks, and was so tame, that I have had them rest upon my shoulder whilst I have been gathering shell-fish. Indeed, we were visited by many birds of prey, some very large; but these only occasionally, and, as we imagined, allured by some dead whale in the neighbourhood, which was once seen. However, if we were so fortunate as to kill one of them, we thought ourselves very well off. In one of my walks, seeing a bird of this latter kind upon an eminence, I endeavoured to come upon it unperceived with my gun, by means of the woods which lay at the back of that eminence; but when I had proceeded so far in the wood as to think I was in a line with it, I heard a growling close by me, which made me think it advisable to retire as soon as possible; the woods were so gloomy I could see nothing; but as I retired, this noise followed me close till I had got out of them. Some of our men did assure me, that they had seen a very large beast in the woods; but their description of it was too imperfect to be relied upon. The wood here is chiefly of the aromatic kind; the iron wood, a wood of a very deep red hue, and another, of an exceeding bright yellow. All the low spots are very swampy; but what we thought strange, upon the summits of the highest hills were found beds of shells, a foot or two thick.

The long-boat being near finished, some of our company were selected to go out in the barge, in order to reconnoitre the coast to the southward, which might assist us in the navigation we were going upon. This party consisted of Mr. Bulkely, Mr. Jones, the purser, myself, and ten men. The first night, we put into a good harbour, a few leagues to the southward of Wager's Island; where finding a large bitch big with puppies, we regaled upon them. In this expedition we had our usual bad weather, and breaking seas, which were grown to such a height the third day, that we were obliged, through distress, to push in at the first inlet we saw at hand. This we had no sooner entered, than we were presented with a view of a fine bay, in which having secured the barge, we went ashore; but the weather being very rainy, and finding nothing to subsist upon, we pitched a bell tent, which we had brought with us, in the wood opposite to where the barge lay. As this tent was not large enough to contain us all, I proposed to four of the people to go to the end of the bay, about two miles distant from the bell tent, to occupy the skeleton of an old Indian wigwam, which I had discovered in a walk that way upon our first landing. This we covered to windward with sea-weed; and lighting a fire, laid ourselves down, in hopes of finding a remedy for our hunger in sleep; but we had not long composed ourselves before one of our company was disturbed by the blowing of some animal at his face, and upon opening his eyes, was not a little astonished to see, by the glimmering of the fire, a large beast standing over him. He had presence of mind enough to snatch a brand from the fire, which was now very low, and thrust it at the nose of the animal, who thereupon made off: this done, the man awoke us, and related, with horror in his countenance, the narrow escape he had had of being devoured. But though we were under no small apprehensions of another visit from this animal, yet our fatigue and heaviness was greater than our fears; and we once more composed ourselves to rest, and slept the remainder of the night without any further disturbance. In the morning, we were not a little anxious to know how our companions had fared; and this anxiety was increased upon tracing the footsteps of the beast in the sand, in a direction towards the bell tent. The impression was deep and plain, of a large round foot, well furnished with claws. Upon our acquainting the people in the tent with the circumstances of our story, we found that they too had been visited by the same unwelcome guest, which they had driven away by much the same expedient. We now returned from this cruise, with a strong gale, to Wager's Island; having found it impracticable to make farther discoveries in the barge, on so dangerous a coast, and in such heavy seas. Here we soon discovered, by the quarters of dogs hanging up, that the Indians had brought a fresh supply to our market. Upon enquiry, we found that there had been six canoes of them, who, among other methods of taking fish, had taught their dogs to drive the fish into a corner of some pond, or lake, from whence they were easily taken out, by the skill and address of these savages. The old cabal, during our absence, had been frequently revived; the debates of which generally ended in riot and drunkenness. This cabal was chiefly held in a large tent, which the people belonging to it had taken some pains to make snug and convenient, and lined with bales of broad cloth driven from the wreck. Eighteen of the stoutest fellows of the ship's company had possession of this tent, from whence were dispatched committees to the Captain, with the resolutions they had taken with regard to their departure; but oftener for liquor. Their determination was to go in the long-boat to the southward, by the straits of Magellan; and the point they were labouring, was to prevail upon the Captain to accompany them. But though he had fixed upon a quite different plan, which was to go to the northward, yet he thought it politic, at present, seemingly to acquiesce with them, in order to keep them quiet. When they began to stipulate with him, that he should be under some restrictions in point of command, and should do nothing without consulting his officers, he insisted upon the full exercise of his authority as before. This broke all measures between them, and they were from this time determined he should go with them, whether he would or no. A better pretence they could not have for effecting this design, than the unfortunate affair of Mr. Cozens; which they therefore made use of for seizing his person, and putting him under confinement, in order to bring him to his trial in England. The long-boat was now launched, and ready for sailing, and all the men embarked, except Captain Pemberton, with a party of marines, whom he had drawn up upon the beach with the intention of conducting Captain Cheap on board; but he was at length persuaded to desist from this resolution by Mr. Bulkely. The men too, finding they were straitened for room, and that their stock of provision would not admit of their taking supernumeraries aboard, were now no less strenuous for his enlargement, and being left to his option of staying behind. Therefore, after having distributed their share in the reserved stock of provision, which was very small, we departed, leaving Captain Cheap, Mr. Hamilton of the marines, and the surgeon, upon the island. I had all along been in the dark as to the turn this affair would take; and not in the least suspecting but that it was determined Captain Cheap should be taken with us, readily embarked under that persuasion; but when I found that this design, which was so seriously carried on to the last, was suddenly dropped, I was determined, upon the first opportunity, to leave them; which was at this instant impossible for me to do, the long-boat lying some distance off shore, at anchor. We were in all eighty-one, when we left the island, distributed into the long-boat, cutter, and barge; fifty-nine on board the first, twelve in the second, in the last, ten. It was our purpose to put into some harbour, if possible, every evening, as we were in no condition to keep those terrible seas long; for without other assistance, our stock of provisions was no more than might have been consumed in a few days; our water was chiefly contained in a few powder-barrels; our flour was to be lengthened out by a mixture of sea-weed; and our other supplies depended upon the success of our guns, and industry among the rocks. Captain Pemberton having brought on board his men, we weighed; but a sudden squall of wind having split our foresail, we with difficulty cleared the rocks, by means of our boats, bore away for a sandy bay, on the south side of the Lagoon, and anchored in ten fathom. The next morning we got under way; but it blowing hard at W. by N. with a great swell, we put into a small bay again, well sheltered by a ledge of rocks without us. At this time, it was thought necessary to send the barge away back to Cheap's bay, for some spare canvass, which was imagined would be soon wanted. I thought this a good opportunity of returning, and therefore made one with those who went upon this business in the barge. We were no sooner clear of the long-boat, than all those in the boat with me declared they had the same intention. When we arrived at the island, we were extremely welcome to Captain Cheap. The next day, I asked him leave to try if I could prevail upon those in the long-boat to give us our share of provision: this he granted; but said if we went in the barge, they would certainly take her from us. I told him my design was to walk it, and only desired the boat might land me upon the main, and wait for me till I came back. I had the most dreadful journey of it imaginable, through thick woods and swamps all the way; but I might as well have spared myself that trouble, as it was to no manner of purpose; for they would not give me, nor any one of us that left them, a single ounce of provisions of any kind. I therefore returned, and after that made a second attempt; but all in vain. They even threatened, if we did not return with the barge, they would fetch her by force. It is impossible to conceive the distressed situation we were now in, at the time of the long-boat's departure. I do not mention this event as the occasion of it; by which, if we who were left on the island experienced any alteration at all, it was for the better; and which, in all probability, had it been deferred, might have been fatal to the greatest part of us; but at this time, the subsistence on which we had hitherto chiefly depended, which was the shell-fish, were every where along shore eat up; and as to stock saved from the wreck, it may be guessed what the amount of that might be, when the share allotted to the Captain, Lieutenant Hamilton, and the surgeon, was no more than six pieces of beef, as many of pork, and ninety pounds of flour. As to myself, and those that left the long-boat, it was the least revenge they thought they could take of us to withhold our provision from us, though at the same time it was hard and unjust. For a day or two after our return, there was some little pittance dealt out to us, yet it was upon the foot of favour; and we were soon left to our usual industry for a farther supply. This was now exerted to very little purpose, for the reason before assigned; to which may be added, the wreck was now blown up, all her upper works gone, and no hopes of any valuable driftage from her for the future. A weed called slaugh, fried in the tallow of some candles we had saved, and wild cellery, were our only fare; by which our strength was so much impaired, that we could scarcely crawl. It was my misfortune too, to labour under a severe flux, by which I was reduced to a very feeble state; so that in attempting to traverse the rocks in search of shell-fish, I fell from one into very deep water, and with difficulty saved my life by swimming. As the Captain was now freed, by the departure of the long-boat, from the riotous applications, menaces, and disturbance of an unruly crew, and left at liberty to follow the plan he had resolved upon, of going northward, he began to think seriously of putting it in execution; in order to which, a message was sent to the deserters, who had seated themselves on the other side of the neighbouring Lagoon, to sound them, whether they were inclined to join the Captain in his undertaking; and if they were, to bring them over to him. For this set, the party gone off in the long-boat had left an half allowance proportion of the common stock of provision. These men, upon the proposal, readily agreed to join their commander; and being conducted to him, increased our number to twenty. The boats which remained in our possession to carry off all these people, were only the barge and yawl, two very crazy bottoms; the broadside of the last was entirely out, and the first had suffered much in the variety of bad weather she had gone through, and was sadly out of repair. And now our carpenter was gone from us, we had no remedy for these misfortunes, but the little skill we had gained from him. However, we made tolerable shift to patch up the boats for our purpose. In the height of our distresses, when hunger, which seems to include and absorb all others, was most prevailing, we were cheered with the appearance, once more, of our friendly Indians, as we thought, from whom we hoped for some relief; but as the consideration was wanting, for which alone they would part with their commodities, we were not at all benefitted by their stay, which was very short. The little reserve too of flour made by the Captain for our sea-stock when we should leave the island, was now diminished by theft: the thieves, who were three of our men, were however soon discovered, and two of them apprehended; but the third made his escape to the woods. Considering the pressing state of our necessities, this theft was looked upon as a most heinous crime, and therefore required an extraordinary punishment: accordingly the Captain ordered these delinquents to be severely whipped, and then to be banished to an island at some distance from us; but before this latter part of the sentence could be put in execution, one of them fled; but the other was put alone upon a barren island, which afforded not the least shelter; however, we, in compassion, and contrary to order, patched him up a bit of a hut, and kindled him a fire, and then left the poor wretch to shift for himself. In two or three days after, going to the island in our boat with some little refreshment, such as our miserable circumstances would admit of, and with an intent of bringing him back, we found him dead and stiff. I was now reduced to the lowest condition by my illness, which was increased by the vile stuff I eat, when we were favoured by a fair day, a thing very extraordinary in this climate. We instantly took the advantage of it, and once more visited the last remains of the wreck,--her bottom. Here our pains were repaid with the great good fortune of hooking up three casks of beef, which were brought safe to shore. This providential supply could not have happened at a more seasonable time than now, when we were afflicted with the greatest dearth we had ever experienced, and the little strength we had remaining was to be exerted in our endeavours to leave the island. Accordingly we soon found a remedy for our sickness, which was nothing but the effects of famine, and were greatly restored by food. The provision was equally distributed among us all, and served us for the remainder of our stay here.

We began to grow extremely impatient to leave the island, as the days were now nearly at their longest, and about midsummer in these parts; but as to the weather, there seems to be little difference in a difference of seasons. Accordingly, on the 15th of December, the day being tolerable, we told Captain Cheap we thought it a fine opportunity to run across the bay. But he first desired two or three of us to accompany him to our place of observation, the top of Mount Misery; when looking through his perspective, he observed to us that the sea ran very high without. However, this had no weight with the people, who were desirous, at all events, to be gone. I should here observe, that Captain Cheap's plan was, if possible, to get to the island of Chiloe; and if we found any vessel there, to board her immediately, and cut her out. This he might certainly have done with ease, had it been his good fortune to get round with the boats. We now launched both boats, and got every thing on board of them as quick as possible. Captain Cheap, the surgeon, and myself, were in the barge with nine men; and Lieutenant Hamilton and Mr. Campbell in the yawl with six. I steered the barge, and Mr. Campbell the yawl; but we had not been two hours at sea before the wind shifted more to the westward, and began to blow very hard, and the sea ran extremely high; so that we could no longer keep our heads towards the cape or headland we had designed for. This cape we had had a view of in one of the intervals of fair weather, during our abode on the island, from Mount Misery; and it seemed to be distant between twenty and thirty leagues from us. We were now obliged to bear away right before the wind. Though the yawl was not far from us, we could see nothing of her, except now and then, upon the top of a mountainous sea. In both the boats, the men were obliged to sit as close as possible, to receive the seas on their backs, to prevent their filling us, which was what we every moment expected. We were obliged to throw everything overboard, to lighten the boats, all our beef, and even the grapnel, to prevent sinking. Night was coming on, and we were running on a lee-shore fast, where the sea broke in a frightful manner. Not one amongst us imagined it possible for boats to live in such a sea. In this situation, as we neared the shore, expecting to be beat to pieces by the first breaker, we perceived a small opening between the rocks, which we stood for, and found a very narrow passage between them, which brought us into a harbour for the boats as calm and smooth as a mill-pond. The yawl had got in before us, and our joy was great at meeting again after so unexpected a deliverance. Here we secured the boats, and ascended a rock. It rained excessively hard all the first part of the night, and was extremely cold; and though we had not a dry thread about us, and no wood could be found for firing, we were obliged to pass the night in that uncomfortable situation, without any covering, shivering in our wet clothes. The frost coming on with the morning, it was impossible for any of us to get a moment's sleep; and having flung overboard our provision the day before, there being no prospect of finding anything to eat on this coast, in the morning we pulled out of the cove; but found so great a sea without, that we could make but little of it. After tugging all day, towards night we put in among some small islands, landed upon one of them, and found it a mere swamp. As the weather was the same, we passed this night much as we had done the preceding; sea-tangle was all we could get to eat at first, but the next day we had better luck; the surgeon shot a goose, and we found materials for a good fire. We were confined here three or four days, the weather all that time proving so bad that we could not put out. As soon as it grew moderate, we left this place, and shaped our course to the northward; and perceiving a large opening between very high land and a low point, we steered for it; and when got that length, found a large bay, down which we rowed, flattering ourselves there might be a passage that way; but towards night we came to the bottom of the bay, and finding no outlet, we were obliged to return the same way we came, having met with nothing the whole day to alleviate our hunger.

Next night we put into a little cove, which, from the great quantity of red-wood found there, we called Redwood Cove. Leaving this place in the morning, we had the wind southerly, blowing fresh, by which we made much way that day, to the northward. Towards evening we were in with a pretty large island. Putting ashore on it, we found it clothed with the finest trees we had ever seen, their stems running up to a prodigious height, without knot or branch, and as straight as cedars: the leaf of these trees resemble the myrtle leaf, only somewhat larger. I have seen trees larger than these in circumference, on the coast of Guinea, and there only; but for a length of stem, which gradually tapering, I have no where met with any to compare to them. The wood was of a hard substance, and, if not too heavy, would have made good masts; the dimensions of some of these trees being equal to a main-mast of a first rate man-of-war. The shore was covered with driftwood of a very large size; most of it cedar, which makes a brisk fire; but is so subject to snap and fly, that when we awoke in the morning, after a sound sleep, we found our clothes singed in many places with the sparks, and covered with splinters.

The next morning being calm, we rowed out; but as soon as clear of the island, we found a great swell from the westward; we rowed to the bottom of a very large bay, which was to the northward of us, the land very low, and we were in hopes of finding some inlet through, but did not; so kept along shore to the westward. This part, which I take to be above fifty leagues from Wager Island, is the very bottom of the large bay it lies in. Here was the only passage to be found, which (if we could by any means have got information of it) would have saved us much fruitless labour. Of this passage I shall have occasion to say more hereafter.

Having at this time an off-shore wind, we kept the land close on board, till we came to a head-land: it was near night before we got abreast of the headland, and opening it discovered a very large bay to the northward, and another headland to the westward, at a great distance. We endeavoured to cut short our passage to it by crossing, which is very seldom to be effected, in these overgrown seas, by boats: and this we experienced now; for the wind springing up, and beginning to blow fresh, we were obliged to put back towards the first headland, into a small cove, just big enough to shelter the two boats. Here an accident happened that alarmed us much. After securing our boats, we climbed up a rock scarcely large enough to contain our numbers: having nothing to eat, we betook ourselves to our usual receipt for hunger, which was going to sleep. We accordingly made a fire, and stowed ourselves round it as well as we could; but two of our men being incommoded for want of room, went a little way from us, into a small nook, over which a great cliff hung, and served them for a canopy. In the middle of the night we were awakened with a terrible rumbling, which we apprehended to be nothing less than the shock of an earthquake, which we had before experienced in these parts; and this conjecture we had reason to think not ill founded, upon hearing hollow groans and cries as of men half swallowed up. We immediately got up, and ran to the place from whence the cries came, and then we were put out of all doubt as to the opinion we had formed of this accident; for here we found the two men almost buried under loose stones and earth: but upon a little farther enquiry we were undeceived as to the cause we had imputed this noise to, which we found to be occasioned by the sudden giving way of the impending cliff, which fell a little beyond our people, carrying trees and rocks with it, and loose earth; the latter of which fell in part on our men, whom we with some pains rescued from their uneasy situation, from which they escaped with some bruises. The next morning we got out early, and the wind being westerly, rowed the whole day for the headland we had seen the night before; but when we had got that length could find no harbour, but were obliged to go into a sandy bay, and lay the whole night upon our oars; and a most dreadful one it proved, blowing and raining very hard. Here we were so pinched with hunger, that we eat the shoes off our feet, which consisted of raw seal skin. In the morning we got out of the bay; but the incessant foul weather had overcome us, and we began to be indifferent as to what befel us; and the boats, in the night, making into a bay, we nearly lost the yawl, a breaker having filled her, and driven her ashore upon the beach. This, by some of our accounts, was Christmas-day; but our accounts had so often been interrupted by our distresses, that there was no depending upon them. Upon seeing the yawl in this imminent danger, the barge stood off, and went into another bay to the northward of it, where it was smoother lying; but there was no possibility of getting on shore. In the night the yawl joined us again. The next day was so bad, that we despaired reaching the headland, so rowed down the bay in hopes of getting some seal, as that animal had been seen the day before, but met with no success; so returned to the same bay we had been in the night before, where the surf having abated somewhat, we went ashore, and picked up a few shell-fish. In the morning, we got on board early, and ran along shore to the westward, for about three leagues, in order to get round a cape, which was the westernmost land we could see. It blew very hard, and there ran such a sea, that we heartily wished ourselves back again, and accordingly made the best of our way for that bay which we had left in the morning; but before we could reach it night came on, and we passed a most dismal one, lying upon our oars.

The weather continuing very bad, we put in for the shore in the morning, where we found nothing but tangle and sea-weed. We now passed some days roving about for provisions, as the weather was too bad to make another attempt to get round the cape as yet. We found some fine Lagoons towards the head of the bay; and in them killed some seal, and got a good quantity of shell-fish, which was a great relief to us. We now made a second attempt to double the cape; but when we got the length of it, and passed the first headland, for it consists of three of an equal height, we got into a sea that was horrid; for it ran all in heaps, like the Race of Portland, but much worse. We were happy to put back again to the old place, with little hopes of ever getting round this cape.

Next day, the weather proving very bad, all hands went ashore to procure some sustenance, except two in each boat, which were left as boat-keepers; this office we took by turns; and it was now my lot to be upon this duty with another man. The yawl lay within us at a grapnel; in the night it blew very hard, and a great sea tumbled in upon the shore; but being extremely fatigued, we in the boats went to sleep, notwithstanding, however, I was at last awakened by the uncommon motion of the boat, and the roaring of the breakers every where about us. At the same time I heard a shrieking, like to that of persons in distress; I looked out, and saw the yawl canted bottom upwards by a sea, and soon afterwards disappeared. One of our men, whose name was William Rose, a quarter-master, was drowned; the other was thrown ashore by the surf, with his head buried in the sand; but by the immediate assistance of the people on shore, was saved. As for us in the barge, we expected the same fate every moment; for the sea broke a long way without us. However we got her head to it, and hove up our grapnel, or should rather say kellick, which we had made to serve in the room of our grapnel, hove overboard some time before, to lighten the boat. By this means we used our utmost efforts to pull her without the breakers some way, and then let go our kellick again. Here we lay all the next day, in a great sea, not knowing what would be our fate. To add to our mortification, we could see our companions in tolerable plight ashore, eating seal, while we were starving with hunger and cold. For this month past, we had not known what it was to have a dry thread about us.

The next day being something more moderate, we ventured in with the barge, as near as we could to the shore, and our companions threw us some seal's liver; which having eat greedily, we were seized with excessive sickness, which affected us so much, that our skin peeled off from head to foot.

Whilst the people were on shore here, Mr. Hamilton met with a large seal, or sea-lion, and fired a brace of balls into him, upon which the animal turned upon him open-mouthed; but presently fixing his bayonet, he thrust it down its throat, with a good part of the barrel of the gun, which the creature bit in two seemingly with as much ease as if it had been a twig. Notwithstanding the wounds it received, it eluded all farther efforts to kill it, and got clear off.

I call this animal a large seal, or sea-lion, because it resembles a seal in many particulars; but then it exceeds it so much in size, as to be sufficiently determined, by that distinction only, to be of another species. Mr. Walter, in Lord Anson's Voyage, has given a particular description of those which are seen about Juan Fernandes; but they have in other climates, different appearances as well as different qualities, as we had occasion to observe in this, and a late voyage I made. However, as so much already has been said of the sea-lion, I shall only mention two peculiarities; one relative to its appearance, and the other to its properties of action, which distinguish it from those described by him. Those I saw, were without that snout, or trunk, hanging below the end of the upper jaw; but then the males were furnished with a large shaggy mane, which gave them a most formidable appearance. And, whereas, he says, those he saw were unwieldy, and easily destroyed: we found some, on the contrary, that lay at a mile's distance from the water, which came down upon us, when disturbed, with such impetuosity, that it was as much as we could do to get out of their way; and when attacked, would turn upon us with great agility.

Having lost the yawl, and being too many for the barge to carry off, we were compelled to leave four of our men behind. They were all marines, who seemed to have no objection to the determination made with regard to them, so exceedingly disheartened and worn out were they with the distresses and dangers they had already gone through. And, indeed, I believe it would have been a matter of indifference to the greatest part of the rest, whether they should embark, or take their chance. The captain distributed to these poor fellows arms and ammunition, and some other necessaries. When we parted, they stood upon the beach, giving us three cheers, and called out, God bless the king. We saw them a little after, setting out upon their forlorn hope, and helping one another over a hideous tract of rocks; but considering the difficulties attending this only way of travelling left them--for the woods are impracticable, from their thickness, and the deep swamp everywhere to be met in them--considering too, that the coast here is rendered so inhospitable, by the heavy seas that are constantly tumbling upon it, as not to afford even a little shell-fish, it is probable that all met with a miserable end.

We rowed along shore to the westward, in order to make one more attempt to double the cape: when abreast of the first headland there ran such a sea, that we expected, every instant, the boat would go down. But as the preservation of life had now, in a great measure, lost its actuating principle upon us, we still kept pushing through it, till we opened a bay to the northward. In all my life, I never saw so dreadful a sea as drove in here; it began to break at more than half a mile from the shore. Perceiving now that it was impossible for any boat to get round, the men lay upon their oars till the boat was very near the breakers, the mountainous swell that then ran, heaving her in at a great rate. I thought it was their intention to put an end to their lives and misery at once; but nobody spoke for some time. At last, Captain Cheap told them, they must either perish immediately, or pull stoutly for it to get off the shore; but they might do as they pleased. They chose, however, to exert themselves a little, and after infinite difficulty, got round the headland again, giving up all thoughts of making any further attempt to double the cape. It was night before we could get back to the bay, where we were compelled to leave four of our men, in order to save, if possible, the remainder; for we must all have certainly perished, if more than sixteen had been crowded into so small a boat. This bay we named Marine Bay. When we had returned to this bay, we found the surf ran so high, that we were obliged to lay upon our oars all night; and it was now resolved to go back to Wager's Island, there to linger out a miserable life, as we had not the least prospect of returning home.

But before we set out, in consequence of this resolution, it was necessary, if possible, to get some little stock of seal to support us in a passage, upon which, wherever we might put in, we were not likely to meet with any supply. Accordingly, it was determined to go up that Lagoon in which we had before got some seal, to provide ourselves with some more; but we did not leave the bay till we had made some search after the unhappy marines we had left on shore. Could we have found them, we had now agreed to take them on board again, though it would have been the certain destruction of us all. This, at another time, would have been mere madness; but we were now resigned to our fate, which we none of us thought far off; however, there was nothing to be seen of them, and no traces but a musket on the beach.

Upon returning up the Lagoon, we were so fortunate as to kill some seal, which we boiled, and laid in the boat for sea-stock. While we were ranging along shore in detached parties in quest of this, and whatever other eatable might come in our way, our surgeon, who was then by himself, discovered a pretty large hole, which seemed to lead to some den, or repository, within the rocks. It was not so rude, or natural, but that there were some signs of its having been cleared, and made more accessible by industry. The surgeon for some time hesitated whether he should venture in, from his uncertainty as to the reception he might meet with from any inhabitant; but his curiosity getting the better of his fears, he determined to go in; which he did upon his hands and knees, as the passage was too low for him to enter otherwise. After having proceeded a considerable way thus, he arrived at a spacious chamber; but whether hollowed out by hands, or natural, he could not be positive. The light into this chamber was conveyed through a hole at the top; in the midst was a kind of bier, made of sticks laid crossways, supported by props of about five foot in height. Upon this bier, five or six bodies were extended; which, in appearance, had been deposited there a long time, but had suffered no decay or diminution. They were without covering, and the flesh of these bodies was become perfectly dry and hard; which, whether done by any art, or secret, the savages may be possessed of, or occasioned by any drying virtue in the air of the cave, could not be guessed. Indeed, the surgeon, finding nothing there to eat, which was the chief inducement for his creeping into this hole, did not amuse himself with long disquisitions, or make that accurate examination which he would have done at another time; but crawling out as he came in, he went and told the first he met of what he had seen. Some had the curiosity to go in likewise. I had forgot to mention that there was another range of bodies, deposited in the same manner, upon another platform under the bier. Probably this was the burial place of their great men, called caciques; but from whence they could be brought we were utterly at a loss to conceive, there being no traces of any Indian settlement hereabout. We had seen no savage since we left the island, or observed any marks in the coves, or bays to the northward, where we had touched,--such as of fire-places, or old wigwams, which they never fail of leaving behind them; and it is very probable, from the violent seas that are always beating upon this coast, its deformed aspect, and the very swampy soil that every where borders upon it, that it is little frequented.