Chapter VIII: Part 8

The Englishman who came on board to act as our pilot, was residing at the island, in charge of a party which had been left there by the English Consul at the Sandwich Islands, to collect beach la mer, a valuable article of commerce, at Canton. The collecting of sandal-wood, was also to be an object of their attention; but they told us, that both were scarce, and difficult to obtain--a statement, we considered, of doubtful veracity.

At 2, P.M., on the 27th of June, we got underway, and made sail for Valparaiso, which is distant from Oparro, about three thousand five hundred miles. This island, which is called by the discoverer, Oparro, is called by the natives, Lapa. It is situated in latitude 27 degrees 34 minutes south, west longitude 144 degrees. At 5, P.M., we saw the islands, called by Quiros, Los Corones, and hauled up, until eight, to clear them.

For the first three days after we sailed, it blew a severe gale from the westward, after which, it became more moderate, but nearly all our passage to Valparaiso, was wet and boisterous. It was less disagreeable, however, than we anticipated, as the wind was almost constantly fair. We had the more reason to apprehend a severe trial of our fortitude, as it was in the dead of winter that we were advancing into a high latitude, after having been a long time within the tropics, and besides that, our sails and rigging were very much worn, some of our articles of provisions were quite exhausted, and others, of the first necessity, reduced to a small quantity. If, therefore, we had encountered tedious gales ahead, we must have suffered greatly in our shattered and ill-fitted condition.

At 4, P.M., on the 19th of July, we made the island of Mas a Fuera, on the coast of Chili, seventy miles from us, and at midnight, passed close to it. At day-light, Juan Fernandes, was in sight, fifty miles off. We passed it a little after meridian. It is very mountainous, but well covered with trees. The interesting fable of Robinson Crusoe's adventures, has given it a lasting fame, and rendered it an object of curiosity to all who visit this part of the Pacific Ocean. It is very fertile, and has been tolerably well cultivated. The Spanish captain-general of Chili, formerly made it a place of banishment, and after the revolution took place in that country, it was appropriated to the same purpose, by the patriots and royalists, as they alternately came into power. A considerable town was built by the exiles, who were sent there at different times, and the finest fruits of Chili are produced in great abundance. The cattle that have been left upon the island, are running wild in large herds, and several persons have found it profitable to send parties there to kill them for their hides. The island produces some sandal-wood, but it is small, and has never been collected in large quantities.

Fish, that very much resemble our codfish, and a variety of other kinds are taken in the greatest abundance around Juan Fernandez and Mas a Fuera. It is believed that if a fishery were established there by some of our enterprising countrymen, it would be found a source of great emolument. The privileges that might be considered necessary for the prosperity of a company formed with this object, could easily be obtained from the government of Chili, and there is no apparent cause why the most successful results should not be realized. It seems only necessary to call the attention of our capitalists to this subject, to have all its advantages secured to our country. It has a fine harbour for the prevailing winds of summer, but in the winter season, when the winds set in from the northward, it is exposed. It lies a little more than three hundred miles from the coast of Chili, and in the summer months I have known open boats to pass between it and Valparaiso.

On the 23d of July, we anchored in the harbour of Valparaiso, a little before day-light, to the gratification of our friends, who were becoming very much alarmed for our safety, no information of us having been received during the whole period of our absence. Thus, in a vessel of 180 tons burthen, poorly fitted, and having on board only about four months' provisions, when we sailed from the coast of Peru, we performed a cruise of upwards of eleven months in an unfrequented Ocean, rendering to our countrymen, and many of the people whom we visited, important benefits, besides realizing the most successful results in the primary object of our cruise. Its beneficial effects will long be felt by our countrymen, who are engaged in the whale-fishery; and, although we suffered many hardships, privations, and dangers, we were happy in being the instruments, in the hands of Providence and our government, of proving that crime cannot go unpunished in the remotest part of the earth, and that no situation is so perilous as to justify despair.

[1] A tree that resembles the locust. It bears a pod, like that of a bean, which is given by the Peruvians to their horses.

[2] A retail grocery and tippling shop.

[3] Spirits distilled from the grape.

[4] Mattee, mattee--Very bad.

[5] Very good, or very well.

[6] Don't you want a wife?

[7] Com. Porter.

[8] A bird commonly called the sand-snipe. We afterwards saw them so frequently at sea, where no land was known to exist, that their presence produced no other interest than would have arisen from the appearance of a gull, or any other aquatic bird.

[9] When the steward was informed of his sentence, he asked Comstock how long a time he would give him to make his peace with God?--"Fourteen seconds!" was the reply.

[10] Tamon, High Chief.

[11] Called the Reef Chain Tide Islands.

[12] Lay witnessed the execution of a man during his residence at the Mulgraves. I do not remember the nature of his offence. He was not bound, or in any way confined; but, after it was determined that he should die, several men attacked him with spears and stones. He fought desperately to the last, although his situation was altogether hopeless, freely bestowing upon his enemies the epithets of cowards and murderers. Even when he could no longer resist, his spirit was unconquered,--and he breathed his last, with expressions of scorn and hatred on his lips.

[13] Lay frequently saw the people, who performed the execution I have mentioned in a former note, throw away portions of their food, as an offering to the spirit of him they had slain.

[14] Crimacu, as it is pronounced by the natives. The missionaries write his name Karaimoku.