Part 4 (1/2)

On February 11 the _Spray_ rounded Cape Virgins and entered the Strait of Magellan The scene was again real and glooale, sent feather-white spu the coast; such a sea ran as would swamp an ill-appointed shi+p As the sloop neared the entrance to the strait I observed that two great tide-races made ahead, one very close to the point of the land and one farther offshore Between the two, in a sort of channel, through co sea followed her a long way in, and a fierce current swept around the cape against her; but this she steins and running everykelp froly under her keel, and the wreck of a great stealoomy aspect to the scene

I was not to be let off easy The Virgins would collect tribute even fro their promontory Fitful rain-squalls froale I reefed the sloop's sails, and sitting in the cabin to rest ly iht expect that as I dozed the very air I breathed seeer My senses heard ”_Spray_ ahoy!”

shouted in warning I sprang to the deck, wondering who could be there that knew the _Spray_ so well as to call out her nahts all around, except away in the southwest, where the old familiar white arch, the terror of Cape Horn, rapidly pushed up by a southwest gale I had only a moment to douse sail and lash all solid when it struck like a shot fro to be re hard The sloop could carry no more than a three-reefed mainsail and forestaysail; with these she held on stoutly and was not blown out of the strait In the height of the squalls in this gale she doused all sail, and this occurred often enough

After this gale followed only a sh the narroithout mishap, cast anchor at Sandy Point on February 14, 1896

[Illustration: The course of the _Spray_ through the Strait of Magellan]

Sandy Point (Punta Arenas) is a Chilean coaling-station, and boasts about two thousand inhabitants, of mixed nationality, but , and hunting, the settlers in this dreary land seemed not the worst off in the world

But the natives, Patagonian and Fuegian, on the other hand, were as squalid as contact with unscrupulous traders could e of the business there was traffic in ”fire-water” If there was a law against selling the poisonous stuff to the natives, it was not enforced Fine speci when they ca seen a whiteabout the peltry of which they had been robbed

The port at that time was free, but a customhouse was in course of construction, and when it is finished, port and tariff dues are to be collected A soldier police guarded the place, and a sort of vigilante force besides took down its guns now and then; but as a general thing, toovernor, hi bloods to foray a Fuegian settlement and wipe out what they could of it on account of the recent ether the place was quite newsy and supported two papers--dailies, I think The port captain, a Chilean naval officer, advised ht Indians in the strait farther west, and spoke of h, which would givethe place, however, I found only oneto embark, and he on condition that I should shi+p another ”, and as I drew the line at dogs, I said no uns At this point in e experience, co of carpet-tacks, worth o I protested that I had no use for carpet-tacks on board Samblich smiled at my want of experience, and maintained stoutly that I would have use for them ”You must use them with discretion,” he said; ”that is to say, don't step on them yourself” With this reht, and saw the way to

[Illustration: The ”]

Sa e quantity of smoked venison He declared that my bread, which was ordinary sea-biscuits and easily broken, was not nutritious as his, which was so hard that I could break it only with a stout blow froave me, from his own sloop, a compass which was certainly better than mine, and offered to unbend her e-hearted old-dust froed e But I felt sure of success without this draft on a friend, and I was right Saold

[Illustration: A Fuegian Girl]

The port captain finding that I was resolved to go, even alone, since there was no help for it, set up no further objections, but advised es tried to surround in to do it in tireed to do With these siave e, and I sailed on the sahts of strange and stirring adventure beyond all I had yet encountered that I now sailed into the country and very core of the savage Fuegians

A fair wind froht me on the first day to St

Nicholas Bay, where, so I was told, I ns of life, I caht under a high mountain Here I had my first experience with the terrific squalls, called s, which extended froh the strait to the Pacific They were coales of wind that Boreas handed down over the hills in chunks A full-bloaill throw a shi+p, even without sail on, over on her beaales, they cease now and then, if only for a short time

February 20 was my birthday, and I found ht, off Cape Froward, the southernht in themy shi+p under way for the bout ahead

The sloop held the wind fair while she ran thirty ht her to Fortescue Bay, and at once anal-fires, which blazed up now on all sides Clouds flew over the ood east wind failed, and in its stead a gale froe at twelve o'clock that night, under the lee of a little island, and then prepared myself a cup of coffee, of which I was sorely in need; for, to tell the truth, hard beating in the heavy squalls and against the current had told on e, and named the place Coffee Island It lies to the south of Charles Island, with only a narrow channel between

[Illustration: Looking west from Fortescue Bay, where the _Spray_ was chased by Indians (Fro the _Spray_ was again under way, beating hard; but she ca on her course Here she remained undisturbed two days, with both anchors down in a bed of kelp Indeed, she ht have remained undisturbed indefinitely had not the windthese two days it blew so hard that no boat could venture out on the strait, and the natives being away to other hunting-grounds, the island anchorage was safe But at the end of the fierce wind-storain sailed out upon the strait

Canoes es froht, they gained on , and a bow-legged savage stood up and called toter on that I was alone, and so I stepped into the cabin, and, passing through the hold, caThat made two men

Then the piece of bowsprit which I had sawed off at Buenos Aires, and which I had still on board, I arranged forward on the lookout, dressed as a sea a line by which I could pull it into motion

That made three of us, and we didn't want to ”yaes came on faster than before I saw that besides four at the paddles in the canoe nearest to me, there were others in the bottohty yards I fired a shot across the bows of the nearest canoe, at which they all stopped, but only for anearer, I fired the second shot so close to the chap anted to ”yah and belloith fear, ”Bueno jo via Isla,” and sitting down in his canoe, he rubbed his starboard cat-head for soood port captain's advice when I pulled the trigger, and ood as a mile for Mr

”Black Pedro,” as he it was, and no other, a leader in several bloody massacres He made for the island now, and the others followed hio and by his full beard that he was the villain I have narel, and the worst o The authorities had been in search of hiians are not bearded

So es I caht in Three Island Cove, about twentyfronal-fires, and heard the barking of dogs, but where I lay it was quite deserted by natives

I have always taken it as a sign that where I found birds sitting about, or seals on the rocks, I should not find savage Indians Seals are never plentiful in these waters, but in Three Island Cove I saw one on the rocks, and other signs of the absence of savage ians]