Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle Part 15

"The coast between Capes Isabel and Santa Lucia is dangerous to approach nearer than ten miles, for there are within that distance many sunken rocks, on which the sea only occasionally breaks. Some of these breakers were seen to seaward of us, as we proceeded along the coast, at the distance of five or six miles. When off Santa Lucia, whales were very numerous around us.

"The general aspect of this portion of the coast is similar to that of the most dreary parts of the Magalhaenic regions: bare, rugged, rocky, and mountainous, intersected by inlets, and bordered by islets, rocks, and breakers.

"The information we possessed respecting the prevalent winds on this coast was very scanty; yet, since all we could procure represented them as prevailing from the northward and north-westward, I considered it advisable to take advantage of the present southerly wind to proceed to the northern part of the coast a.s.signed for our survey, instead of stopping to explore the bight between Cape Isabel and Cape Santa Lucia.

"From the bearings at sunset,[105] we ran along the land with bright moonlight, sounding every hour; and at daylight were about ten miles from the Island of Madre de Dios.

"We closed the land and proceeded to the northward, keeping at a distance of about three miles off sh.o.r.e, sounding {158} between twenty-eight and thirty-three fathoms, sandy bottom. The weather was clear and fine, and we were enabled to make observations, and take the bearings and angles, necessary for laying down the coast satisfactorily.

"At noon we were in lat.i.tude 50 12' south, and in the meridian of Cape Tres Puntas, between which and a cape bearing from us N. 13 E. (magnetic), distant eight miles, there was evidently an inlet: this cape is marked on the chart as Cape William. The character of the land is the same with that which we had hitherto pa.s.sed, bare, rugged, rocky mountains, with peaks, and sharply serrated ridges. From daylight to noon we had run twenty-one miles along the coast; in that interval only one inlet was seen, which was in the lat.i.tude of 50 27' south, agreeing well with the 'West Channel' of the Spanish chart. It was four miles wide at its mouth, and appeared to follow a winding course to the eastward. The land of Cape Tres Puntas curved in to the eastward, until it closed with Cape William; at dusk we were abreast of Cape William, and two leagues off sh.o.r.e, where we lay-to till daylight, as I wished to examine the inlet between it and Cape Tres Puntas, which subsequently proved to be Sarmiento's Gulf of Trinidad. The old navigator thus describes its discovery:

"'At daylight, 17th of March, 1579, in the name of the most holy Trinity, we saw land, bearing E.S.E., ten leagues distant, towards which we steered to explore it. At mid-day, being near the land, we observed the lat.i.tude 49, but Hernando Alonzo made it 49 9'. In approaching the sh.o.r.e we saw a great bay and gulf, which trended deeply into the land towards some snowy mountains. To the south there was a high mountain, with three peaks, wherefore Pedro Sarmiento named the bay 'Golfo de la Sanctisima Trenidad.'

The highest land of the three peaks was named 'Cabo de Tres Puntas o montes.' This island is bare of vegetation, and at the water-side is low and rugged, and lined with breakers; on the summit are many white, grey, and black-coloured portions of ground, or rock. Six leagues to the north of Cape Tres Puntas is the opposite side of the gulf, where it forms a large high mountain, backed {159} to the north by low land, and fronted by many islands. This high mountain, which appears to be an island from the offing, was called 'Cabo Primero."[106]

"The following night was clear, and the wind moderate from S.E., but in the course of next morning it s.h.i.+fted to N.E., with squalls, rain, and thick weather; we worked into the inlet notwithstanding, and by noon had reached three miles within its S.W. head-land, Cape William, and were abreast of a bay, into which I sent a boat to look for anchorage. On her return we stood into it, and anch.o.r.ed in the excellent harbour, afterwards named Port Henry, where we remained from the 2d to the 5th of April, employed in making a correct survey of the harbour and its adjacencies, and determining the lat.i.tude and longitude.[107]

"The inner harbour, distinguished in the plan by the name of 'Aid Basin,'

is perfectly land-locked, and sufficiently s.p.a.cious to contain a numerous squadron of the largest s.h.i.+ps in twenty fathoms water, over a mud bottom, and as completely sheltered from the effects of wind and sea as in wet-docks. At the south-west side of the basin is a fresh-water lake, which discharges itself by a small stream, whence casks might be conveniently filled by means of canvas hoses, and the sh.o.r.es around have wood for fuel in abundance; but, from the lofty surrounding mountains, some rising almost perpendicularly to an elevation of two thousand feet, the thick clouds with which this basin was generally overhung, and the dense exhalations that arose from it during the rare intervals of suns.h.i.+ne, together with the exceeding prevalence of heavy rain on this coast, this place must be disagreeable and unhealthy. Such objections do not apply to the outer harbour, for while its sh.o.r.es afford shelter, they do not obstruct a free circulation of air. It is sufficiently large to afford convenient and secure anchorage for five or six frigates.

"We hauled the seine with very poor success, as a few smelt only were taken; we had no better luck with our fis.h.i.+ng-lines; {160} but the trial might have been more profitable at another season, judging from the number of seals we saw on the rocks off the Port, which live princ.i.p.ally upon fish. Muscles, limpets, and sea-eggs abound here, and are good and wholesome of their kind. Birds are few in number, and of the species most common in these regions. No quadruped of any kind was seen; but the purser told me that he had observed, near the sandy beach, traces of a four-footed animal, resembling those of a tiger: he followed them to a cavern, and thence to the jungle. He also said that he had seen several humming-birds.

"With the exception of wild celery and the arbutus berry, I know not of any useful vegetable production that this place affords, unless the 'Winter's-bark tree' may be mentioned. Some coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, fit perhaps for animals, may be there procured. The only signs of inhabitants were some wigwams on the western point, which seemed to have been long forsaken: in their construction they were precisely similar to those erected by the migratory tribes in the Straits of Magalhaens: and the sh.e.l.ls of muscles, limpets, and sea-eggs, within and about them, showed that the former tenants of these hovels drew, like the Magalhaenic tribes, a princ.i.p.al part of their subsistence from sh.e.l.l-fish.

"Around the harbour are granite mountains, perfectly bare at their summits and north-western sides, but the lower parts are thickly covered in sheltered places and ravines, partly with trees, and partly with brushwood: among the trees growing here we observed, as usual, two kinds of beech, a tree like the cypress, but of small size, and the Winter's-bark. The underwood is composed of all the various shrubs we had met with in the Straits of Magalhaens; and this brushwood is so thickly spread over the lower parts of the sh.o.r.es of the harbour, that it is only by crawling over it that the distance of a few yards from the rocks can be gained; and being generally of insufficient strength to support a man's weight, it frequently gives way beneath him, and he is so completely buried, as to make it difficult for him to extricate himself.

"Scarcely any of the trees attain a size to render them fit {161} for any thing but firewood; of those we felled there was scarcely one that was not more or less rotten at the heart, a defect probably caused by the extreme humidity of the climate.

"During our stay, the master, accompanied by our boatswain's mate,(f) an experienced sealer, went to take seal on the rocks, and returned in a few hours with some of the inferior sort, called 'hair seal,' which were numerous; but the surf was in most places too heavy to allow them to land without much risk. The fry of the young seals we thought extremely good, not exceeded even by the finest lamb's fry.

"On the morning of the 5th we worked to the westward, to clear the land on each side of the inlet; and at sunset, Capo Tres Puntas bore N.b.W. W., distant two leagues. The northerly breeze, which we had worked with since leaving Port Henry, increased rapidly to a hard gale, and by 8 P.M. we were reduced to the close-reefed main-topsail and reefed foresail. The gale continued with unabated violence during the 6th, 7th, and 8th, from the north, N.W., and S.W., with a confused mountainous sea. Our decks were constantly flooded, and we could rarely show more than the close-reefed main-topsail and reefed foresail. Only two accidents occurred: the little boat which we carried astern was washed away by a heavy sea that broke over us, while hoisting her in-board; and the marine barometer was broken by the violent motion of the vessel. At noon, on the 8th, Cape Corso bore from us, by account, S.E. (true), distant fifty-five miles. I had tried to gain a wide offing to get a less turbulent sea, and because not even an outline of the sea-coast of Campana Island was drawn in the chart. We had not, during these three days, a glimpse of the sun or of a star, for it blew a constant gale, accompanied by squalls, thick weather, and rain. According to the time of year, the season of winter had not arrived, but the weather seemed to say it was already come--

Sullen and sad, with all it's rising train Of vapours, clouds, and storms.

{162}

"The wind abated at daylight on the 9th, and drew to the southward, and thence to the S.E. (the fair weather quarter of this coast). We bore up to make the land, and at about 10 A.M. the 'loom' of it was seen from the mast-head. At noon, high mountains were visible from the deck; our lat.i.tude, by observation, was 48 51', and our longitude, by chronometer, 00 27' west of Port Henry. No soundings were obtained with one hundred and ten fathoms of line. Hence we steered east (magnetic) towards a remarkable mountain, which, from our being nearly in the parallel of it at noon, has been marked in the chart as Parallel Peak. The coast we were upon was that of the Island 'Campana,' and, in its general appearance, did not differ from that of Madre de Dios. It was late before we got very close to the land; but, for a couple of leagues to the northward, and about a league to the southward of the parallel of our lat.i.tude at noon, we could distinguish rocks and breakers skirting the coast to a distance of two leagues from the sh.o.r.e.

"At dusk we hauled off for the night; but instead of being able to resume the examination of the coast next morning, we had to encounter another gale of wind from the N.W., which, before noon, reduced us to close-reefed main-topsail and reefed foresail. This gale suddenly subsided in the western quarter, which was singular; for those we have experienced generally commenced at north, thence drew round to the westward, from which point to S.W. they blew with the greatest fury, and hauling to the southward, usually abated to the eastward of south.

"During the afternoon, we again made the land near Parallel Peak, but could not close it. Next morning (11th), with fine weather, and a fresh breeze at S.W.b.W., we once more saw the land about Parallel Peak; and when distant from the sh.o.r.e about eight miles, steered N.b.E. along the coast. At noon our lat.i.tude was 48 47'.

"Throughout our run along the coast this day, we skirted a number of rocky islets, rocks, and breakers, lying off sh.o.r.e at the distance of three or four miles. Some of the islets were elevated several feet above the surface of the sea; others were {163} a-wash, and there were breakers that showed themselves only occasionally. Along this line the surf beat very heavily, and, outside, a long rolling sea prevailed, in which the s.h.i.+p was very uneasy.

"This line of dangers is not altogether continuous; for there is an opening about two miles wide, abreast of Parallel Peak, to the southward of which is a bight, where possibly a harbour may exist; but, considering the prevalence of heavy westerly gales and thick weather, if there be one, few vessels would venture to run for it; and this line must, I should think, be considered as a barrier that they ought not pa.s.s. As seal are found on the rocks, vessels engaged in that trade might not, perhaps, be deterred by these dangers, but every other would give all this extent of coast a wide berth. We ran past the breakers at the distance of about a mile, having rocky soundings, from thirty to twenty-three fathoms.

"The termination of the coast line northward was a high, rugged island, with a small peak at the north end. The extremity of the main land was rather a high bluff cape, whence the coast extends southward, with craggy, mountainous peaks and ridges, as far as Parallel Peak. At sunset, the N.W.

end of Campana bore north (magnetic), distant three leagues, and from the mast-head I could see very distinctly the belt of rocks and breakers extending uninterruptedly to the northward, as far as the end of Campana.

"We hauled off for the night, and had light variable airs, or calms, until 2 A.M. of the 12th, when a breeze from the northward sprung up, and freshened so rapidly, that by noon we were again reduced to a close-reefed main-topsail and foresail. The gale was accompanied, as usual, by incessant rain and thick weather, and a heavy confused sea kept our decks always flooded.

"The effect of this wet and miserable weather, of which we had had so much since leaving Port Famine, was too manifest by the state of the sick list, on which were now many patients with catarrhal, pulmonary, and rheumatic complaints. The gale continued undiminished until the morning of the 13th, {164} when, having moderated, we bore up and steered N.E. to close the land. At noon a good meridional alt.i.tude gave our lat.i.tude 48 30' south, and about the same time we saw the land bearing N.E.b.E., which we soon made out to be Parallel Peak. After allowing amply for heave of sea, and lee-way, we were considerably southward of our reckoning, which indicates a southerly current; but under such circ.u.mstances of wind and weather its exact direction, or strength, could not be ascertained.

"We proceeded along the land, taking angles and bearings for the survey, and at sunset the N.W. end of Campana bore from us north (magnetic), distant five leagues. Being now off the N.W. end of the island of Campana, which forms the south-western headland of the Gulf of Penas, I considered that, before I proceeded to examine its inlets, I ought to look for the Harbour of Santa Barbara, which has been placed on the old charts in this neighbourhood. Accordingly we lay-to during the night, and at 4 A.M. bore up to close the land; at daylight the extremes of it were seen indistinctly through a very cloudy and hazy atmosphere, from N. 39 E. to S. 53 E.

About noon the weather cleared off, and we got the meridian alt.i.tude of the sun, which gave our lat.i.tude 48 09' south.[108] We directed the course for our Dundee Rock, and when abreast of it, steered N.E. (compa.s.s) for an opening in the low part of the coast ahead, backed by very high mountains, which we found was the entrance of Port Santa Barbara. The coast to the southward was lined with rocky islets, rocks, and breakers, extending a league to seaward, and there were others to the northward. We were in a channel half a mile wide, through which we continued our course, sounding from fifteen to eleven fathoms, and in the evening anch.o.r.ed near the entrance of the harbour.

{165}

"As our present situation was completely exposed to westerly winds, I went to examine a deep bight in the southern sh.o.r.e, which proved to be a good harbour, perfectly sheltered from all winds, with a depth of three and a half fathoms over a fine sandy bottom. In the afternoon we weighed anchor and warped into a berth in the inner harbour, where we moored in three fathoms. I found lying, just above high-water mark, half buried in sand, the beam of a large vessel.[109] We immediately conjectured that it had formed part of the ill-fated Wager, one of Lord Anson's squadron (of whose loss the tale is so well told in the narratives of Byron and Bulkeley): the dimensions seemed to correspond with her size, and the conjecture was strengthened by the circ.u.mstance that one of the knees that attached it to the s.h.i.+p's side had been cut, which occurred in her case, when her decks were scuttled to get at the provisions; all the bolts were much corroded; but the wood, with the exception of the outside being worm-eaten, was perfectly sound. Our carpenter p.r.o.nounced it to be English oak.

"The land about this harbour is similar to that about Port Henry. Its sh.o.r.es are rocky, with some patches of sandy beach, but every where covered with trees, or an impervious jungle, composed of dwarfish trees and shrubs.

The land, in most places, rises abruptly from the sh.o.r.e to mountains, some of which attain an alt.i.tude of more than two thousand feet, and are quite bare at their summits and on their sides, except in sheltered ravines, where a thick growth of trees is found. These mountains, or at least their bases, where we could break off specimens, were of basalt, with large ma.s.ses of quartz imbedded in it; but on some parts of the sh.o.r.es the rocks were of very coa.r.s.e granite.

"As in the vicinity of Port Henry, the thickness of the jungle prevented our going far inland; the greatest distance was gained by Lieut. Skyring, who, with his wonted zeal to prosecute the survey, ascended some of the mountains for the {166} purpose of obtaining bearings of remote points: he remarked to me, 'that many miles were pa.s.sed over in ascending even moderate heights; the land was very high and very irregular; the mountains seemed not to lie in any uniform direction, and the longest chain that was observed did not exceed five miles. The flat land between the heights was never two miles in extent: the ground was always swampy, and generally there were small lakes receiving the drainage of mountain-streams. Indeed the whole country appeared broken and unconnected.'

"Some of the mountains were ascertained to be 2,500 feet high, but the general height was about 2,000 feet. A large island, on the northern side of the harbour, is an excellent watering-place, at which casks may be conveniently filled in the boat. It is also an object of great natural beauty: the hill, which forms its western side, rises to seven or eight hundred feet, almost perpendicularly, and when viewed from its base in a boat, seems stupendous: it is clothed with trees, among which the light-green leaves of the Winter's-bark tree, and the red flowers of the Fuchsia, unite their tints with the darker foliage of other trees. This perpendicular part extends to the northward till it is met by the body of the mountain, which is arched into a s.p.a.cious cavern, fifty yards wide and a hundred feet high, whose sides are clothed with a rich growth of shrubs; and before it a cascade descends down the steep face of the mountain.

"On the sh.o.r.e we found two Indian wigwams and the remains of a third; but they had evidently been long deserted, for the gra.s.s had grown up both around and within them to the height of more than a foot. These wigwams were exactly similar to those in the Strait of Magalhaens: one was larger than any I had met with, being eighteen feet in diameter. The only land birds I saw were two owls, which pa.s.sed by us after dusk with a screeching noise.

"On the patches of sandy beach, in the inner harbour, we hauled the seine, but unsuccessfully; we expected to find fish plentiful here, from seeing many seals on the rocks outside, and from finding the water quite red with the sp.a.w.n of {167} crayfish. Muscles and limpets were pretty abundant, and the sh.e.l.ls (_Concholepas Peruviana_) used by the Magalhaenic tribes as drinking cups, were found adhering to the rocks in great numbers.

"Nothing; could be worse than the weather we had during nine days' stay here; the wind, in whatever quarter it stood, brought thick heavy clouds, which precipitated themselves in torrents, or in drizzling rain. We were well sheltered from the regular winds; but many troublesome eddies were caused by the surrounding heights, while the pa.s.sing clouds showed that strong and squally north-west winds were prevalent.

"On the morning of the 24th, we put to sea with a southerly breeze. The extent of coast from the eastern part of Port Santa Barbara to the outer of the Guaianeco Islands presents several inlets running deep into the land; but it is completely bound by rocks and rocky islets, which, with its being generally a lee-sh.o.r.e, renders it extremely unsafe to approach. Observing an opening between some islets, of which we had taken the bearing at noon, we stood in to see whether it afforded anchorage; and approaching the extremity of the larger island, proceeded along it at the distance of only half a mile, when, after running two miles through a labyrinth of rocks and kelp, we were compelled to haul out, and in doing so scarcely weathered, by a s.h.i.+p's length, the outer islet. Deeming it useless to expend further time in the examination of this dangerous portion of the gulf, we proceeded towards Cape Tres Montes, its north-western headland.

"At sunset Cape Tres Montes bore N. 25 W., distant eighteen miles. In this point of view the cape makes very high and bold; to the eastward of it, land was seen uninterruptedly as far as the eye could reach. We stood in sh.o.r.e next morning, and were then at a loss to know, precisely, which was the cape. The highest mountain was the southern projection, and has been marked on the chart as Cape Tres Montes: but none of the heights, from any point in which we saw them, ever appeared as 'three mounts.' The land, though mountainous, seemed more wooded, and had a less {168} rugged outline than that we had been hitherto coasting, since leaving the Strait. We steered along the western coast of the land near Cape Tres Montes, and at noon, being three miles from the sh.o.r.e, observed, in lat.i.tude 46 5. south, the cape, bearing N. 80 E. (mag.), distant seven miles. The northernmost cape in sight N. 26 W., distant ten miles, soundings ninety-seven fathoms.

Shortly afterwards another cape opened at N. 37 W. (mag.).

"The parallel of forty-seven degrees, the limit a.s.signed for our survey, being already pa.s.sed, I did not venture to follow the coast further, although we were strongly tempted to do so by seeing it trend so differently from what is delineated on the old charts. An indentation in the coast presenting itself between mountainous projections on each side of low land (of which the northernmost was the cape set at noon), we hauled in to look for an anchorage; but it proved to be a mere unsheltered bight, at the bottom of which was a furious surf. We then stood to the southward, along the land of Cape Tres Montes, with the view of examining the north side of the Gulf of Penas.

"The following morning was fine: Cape Tres Montes bore N.E., distant about three leagues. We lay off and on during the day, while the master went in the whale-boat, to examine a sandy bay (of which Cape Tres Montes was the easternmost point) for anchorage: he returned about sunset, and reported that it did afford anchorage; but was quite unsheltered from wind, and exposed to a great swell. The boat's crew had fallen in with a number of seals, and the quant.i.ty of young seal's fry they brought on board afforded a welcome regale to their mess-mates and themselves.

"At daylight (27th) we were four leagues from Cape Tres Montes, bearing N.

68 W. (magnetic) a remarkable peak, marked in the chart the 'Sugar Loaf,'

N. 19 E., distant twenty-four miles, and our soundings were sixty-eight fathoms. This peak resembled in appearance, the Sugar Loaf at Rio de Janeiro: it rises from a cl.u.s.ter of high and thickly-wooded islands, forming apparently the eastern sh.o.r.e of an inlet, of which {169} the land of Cape Tres Montes is the western head. Further to the N.E. stands a lofty and remarkable mountain, marked in our chart as 'the Dome of Saint Paul's.'

It is seen above the adjacent high land. The height of the Sugar Loaf is 1,836 feet, and that of the Dome of Saint Paul's, 2,284 feet.

"During the day we worked up towards the land, eastward of Cape Tres Montes, and at night succeeded in anchoring in a sandy bay, nine miles from the Cape, where our depth of water was twelve fathoms, at the distance of a cable and a half off sh.o.r.e. We lay at this anchorage until noon the following day, while Lieut. Skyring landed on some low rocks detached from the sh.o.r.e, where he was able to take some advantageous angles; and on his return we weighed and worked up the gulf, between the eastern land of Cape Tres Montes, and high, well wooded islands. The sh.o.r.es of the main land, as well as of the islands, are bold, and the channel between them has no dangers: the land is in all parts luxuriantly wooded. About a mile and a half to the northward of the sandy beach which we had left, lies another, more extensive; and a mile further, a considerable opening in the main land, about half a mile wide, presented itself, having at its mouth two small thickly-wooded islands, for which we steered, to ascertain whether there was a harbour. The water was deep at its mouth, from thirty-eight to thirty-four fathoms; but the comparative lowness of the sh.o.r.es at its S.W.

end, and the appearance of two sandy beaches, induced us to expect a moderate depth within. As we advanced, a long white streak was observed on the water, and was reported from the mast-head as a shoal; but it was soon ascertained to be foam brought down by the tide, and we had the satisfaction of anchoring in sixteen fathoms over a sandy bottom, in a very excellent port, which we named Port Otway, as a tribute of respect to the Commander-in-chief of the South American Station, Rear Admiral Sir Robert Waller Otway, K.C.B."

A deficiency here occurs in Captain Stokes's journal, which the Beagle's log barely remedies. From the 30th of April to {170} the 9th of May there was a succession of stormy weather, accompanied by almost incessant and heavy rain, which prevented the s.h.i.+p being moved; but proved, in one respect, advantageous, by affording a very seasonable cessation from work to the fatigued crew, and obliging Captain Stokes to take some little rest, which he so much required; but regretted allowing himself, and submitted to most reluctantly. He continues his journal on the 9th of May, stating that, "Among the advantages which this admirable port presents to s.h.i.+pping, a capital one seems to be the rich growth of stout and shapely timber, with which its sh.o.r.es, even down to the margin of the sea, are closely furnished, and from which a frigate of the largest size might obtain spars large enough to replace a topmast, topsail-yard, or even a lower-yard. In order to try what would be the quality of the timber, if, in case of emergency, it were used in an unseasoned state, I sent the carpenter and his crew to cut two spars for a topgallant-mast and yard. Those they brought on board were of beech-wood; the larger being thirteen inches in diameter, and thirty feet in length.

"On the 10th, the weather having improved, the Beagle was moved to the head of the inlet, to an anchorage in Hoppner Sound, and on the 11th I went with Lieut. Skyring to examine the opening, off which we were anch.o.r.ed.

"On each side of it we found coves, so perfectly sheltered, and with such inexhaustible supplies of fresh water and fuel, that we lamented their not being in a part of the world where such advantages could benefit navigation. The depth of water in mid-channel was generally forty fathoms; in the bights, or coves, it varied from sixteen to twenty-five fathoms, with always a sandy bottom. We saw a great many hair seals, shoals of pie-bald porpoises, and birds of the usual kinds in considerable numbers.

On several points of the sh.o.r.es were parts of the skeletons of whales; but we no where saw a four-footed animal, or the slightest trace of a human habitation. The unusual fineness of the morning, the smoothness of the water, and the proximity of the adjacent lofty mountains, clothed almost to their summits by the fullest foliage, with every {171} leaf at rest, combined with the stillness around to give the scene a singular air of undisturbed repose. We reached the extremity of the inlet, which we found was about six miles from its mouth; and thinking that it was the inner sh.o.r.e of an isthmus, of no great width, curiosity prompted us to endeavour to see its outer sh.o.r.e: so we secured the boat, and accompanied by five of the boat's crew, with hatchets and knives to cut their way, and mark the trees to guide us on our way back, we plunged into the forest, which was scarcely pervious on account of its entangled growth, and the obstructions presented by trunks and branches of fallen trees.

"Our only guide was an occasional glimpse, from the top of a tree, of the ranges of mountains, by which we steered our course. However, two hours of this sort of work were rewarded by finding ourselves in sight of the great South Sea. It would be vain to attempt describing adequately the contrast to the late quiet scene exhibited by the view we had on emerging from this dark wood. The inlet where we left our boat resembled a calm and sequestered mountain lake, without a ripple on its waters: the sh.o.r.e on which we now stood was that of a horrid rock-bound coast, lashed by the awful surf of a boundless ocean, impelled by almost unceasing west winds.