Volume Xvii Part 28 (1/2)

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 a.s.sistance, 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 by 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 anch.o.r.ed in ten fathom. The next morning we got under weigh, but it blowing hard at W. by N. with a great swell, 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 canvas, 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 of 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 provisions: 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 don't 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 depended chiefly, which was the sh.e.l.l- fish, were every where along sh.o.r.e 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 a.s.signed; 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 sellery, were our only fare, by which our strengths 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 sh.e.l.l-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 a variety of bad weather she had gone through, and was much 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 s.h.i.+ft 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 benefited 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 compa.s.sion, and contrary to order, patched him up a bit of a hut and kindled him a fire, and then left the poor wretch to s.h.i.+ft for himself. In two or three days after, going to the island in our boat with some little refreshment, such as our miserable circ.u.mstances 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 sh.o.r.e. 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 s.h.i.+fted 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 every thing 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-sh.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e, 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 pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.s the night in that uncomfortable situation, without any covering, s.h.i.+vering 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 any thing 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 pa.s.sed 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 got 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 pa.s.sage 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 found nothing the whole day to alleviate our hunger.

CHAPTER IV.

Occurrences on our Voyage.--We encounter bad Weather and various Dangers and Distresses.--Leave a Part of our Crew behind on a desert Sh.o.r.e.--A strange Cemetry discovered.--Narrow Escape from Wreck.--Return to Mount Misery.--We are visited by a Chanos Indian Cacique, who talks Spanish, with whom we again take our Departure from the Island.

Next night we put into a little cove, which, from the great quant.i.ty of red wood found there, we called Red-wood 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 ash.o.r.e 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 resembles the myrtle leaf, only somewhat larger. I have seen trees larger than these in circ.u.mference on the coast of Guinea, and there only; but for a length of stem, which gradually tapered, 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 sh.o.r.e was covered with drift wood 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 waked 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 sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sage to be found, which, if we could by any means have got information of it, would have saved us much fruitless labour. Of this pa.s.sage I shall have occasion to say more hereafter.

Having at this time an off-sh.o.r.e wind, we kept the wind close on board till we came to a head-land: it was near night before we got abreast of the head-land, and opening it discovered a very large bay to the northward, and another head-land to the westward, at a great distance. We endeavoured to cut short our pa.s.sage 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 head-land, 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 rambling, 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 head-land 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 ash.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e. In the night the yawl joined us again.

The next day was so bad, that we despaired reaching the head-land, 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 ash.o.r.e and picked up a few sh.e.l.l-fish. In the morning we got on board early, and ran along sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sed a most dismal one, lying upon our oars.

The weather continuing very bad, we put in for the sh.o.r.e in the morning, where we found nothing but tangle and sea-weed. We now pa.s.sed 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 quant.i.ty of sh.e.l.l-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 pa.s.sed the first head-land, 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 to the old place, with little hopes of ever getting round this cape.

Next day, the weather proving very bad, all hands went ash.o.r.e 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 sh.o.r.e; 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 ash.o.r.e by the surf, with his head buried in the sand, but by the immediate a.s.sistance of the people on sh.o.r.e, 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 ash.o.r.e, 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 sh.o.r.e, and our companions threw us some seals 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 sh.o.r.e here, Mr Hamilton met with a large seal or sea-lion, and fired a brace of b.a.l.l.s 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.