On the 21st the Tamar sailed into the harbour with the rising of the tide; but the Dolphin waiting for a wind, ran on shore, where she remained all night, and the next day, in very tempestuous weather. On the 23d they saw the track of a tyger, and several other beasts, and found a nest of ostriches eggs, which proved to be good eating. On the 24th the ships were both properly moored in the harbour, where the water rises no less than 27 feet at spring tides.
The Commodore went on shore this day, and shot a hare weighing 26 pounds, and saw several others as large as fawns. On the 25th he landed again, and found the barrel of an old musquet, with the King’s broad arrow on it, and an old oar of a singular form. The musquet-barrel was so decayed, that it would crumble to dust with the touch. These things, it is probable, were left by the crew of the Wager, or, possibly, by Sir John Narborough.
They here saw the remains of fires, but met with no inhabitants. The only vegetable they found was wild peas. They killed several wild ducks, and shot a ball through the body of a hare, which ran two miles before he dropped: the flesh of this animal is delicious, and as white as snow. Two old guanicoes and a fawn were killed by another party; and some of the former were seen of 300 weight.
The skull and bones of a man having been found, were brought on board; as was likewise a young guanicoe, which was very beautiful, and grew quite tame; but died in a short time. Happily, on the 27th, two springs of tolerable water were found; and on the next day a tun of it was brought on board. The Commodore went again on shore, where such an immense number of birds took flight, as actually darkened the sky, and it was impossible to walk without treading on their eggs. These eggs the men ate, though there were young birds in the greater part of them.
On the 30th some men being sent on shore for water, two of them, who first came to it, saw a tyger lying on the ground, who taking no kind of notice of them, they threw stones at him: still, however, they could not provoke his rage; he waited till the rest came up, and then walked leisurely off. The country near this bay abounds with geese, ducks, widgeon, and sea-pies, besides several birds, the names of which are unknown.
On the 5th of December the ships got under sail, and, during that and the following day, had pleasant weather and a fine gale. They now steered for Pepys’ Isle, which is described as lying in 47 degrees south latitude. The weather was now very clear, and the ships, by spreading from each other, could, between them, command a prospect of 20 leagues. They thus continued their search for this supposed island till the 11th of the month, when the Commodore, convinced that there was no such place, resolved to stand in for the main, to take in wood and water, which began to be much wanted.
Large whales now swam frequently about the ship, and birds flew round them in great numbers. On the 15th the wind blew a perfect hurricane, before which it would have been safest to have ran; but the fear of being driven too far from land, while they were in want of water, determined them to endeavour to weather it, which they did till it abated, which was at eight o’clock the next morning. On the 18th they saw land, which, like that near Port Desire, was of the downy kind without trees. They now observed porpoises, which were milk white, with black spots, pursuing the fish in the sea, of which there were great numbers.
On the 20th they ran close in shore to Cape Virgin Mary; and having observed a smoke on shore, and a number of guanicoes feeding in the vallies, they came to an anchor. The next day they again sailed, and at length anchored about two miles from the shore, near the place where they had seen smoke the preceding day. The Commodore observed a number of men on horse-back, riding to and fro, opposite the ship, and waving something white, which he took to be an invitation to land; and as he was anxious to know what people these were, he went in one boat with a party of men well armed; the first Lieutenant with a separate party following in another. When they came near the shore, they saw a great number of people on horseback, and some on foot, the whole amounting, as they judged, to five hundred; who were drawn up on a stony point of land that ran far into the sea. Though the Commodore did not observe that they had any weapons, he made signs for them to retreat a little, which they readily did, and kept shouting very loud while the crew were landing; which was no sooner done, than they were mustered on the beach, with their officers at their head.
Mr. Byron now advanced alone, but as he approached, the Indians retreated; he therefore made signs, that one of them should come forward, which was complied with. The person who advanced appeared to be a chief, and was very near seven feet in heighth: round one of his eyes was a circle of black paint, and a white circle round the other; the rest of his face was painted in streaks of various colours. He had the skin of a beast, with the hair inwards, thrown over his shoulders. The Commodore and the Indian having complimented each other, in language equally unintelligible to either, they walked together towards the main body of the Indians, few of whom were shorter than the height abovementioned, and the women were large in proportion. Mr. Byron made signs for them to sit on the ground, which they did, chanting in a most serious and melancholy tone. The eyes of any one face were never painted with the same colours; some being white and red, some black and red, and some black and white: their teeth were white and even; they were all dressed much alike; but that some of them wore a sort of boots, having a spur of peaked wood fastened to each heel.
The Commodore having prevailed on some, who were still galloping about, to alight and sit down with the rest, he distributed some white and yellow beads among them, which they very gladly accepted. He then took a piece of ribband, and giving the end of it into the hands of the first Indian, he continued it to the next, and so on as they sat, to the end of the ribband. He then cut it with a pair of scissars between every two of them; and tied each man’s share round his head, which they did not attempt to remove. It was remarked, that though the presents were insufficient to supply them all, no one pressed forward from the station assigned him, nor seemed to envy the superior good fortune of his neighbour.
[Illustration: _Commodore Byron Conversing with a Patagonian Woman._]
Among these gigantic people, one woman, who was of the largest size, and most disagreebly painted, had her hair adorned with beads of blue grass, hanging, in two divisions, down before her shoulders; and she had bracelets of pale gold or brass, on her arms; but there was no learning how she obtained this finery. One of the men shewed Mr. Byron the bowl of a tobacco pipe, made of red earth, and made signs that he wanted some tobacco, none of which they had among them. On this the Commodore beckoned to the seamen, who still remained drawn up on the beach, three or four of whom instantly running forward, the Indians were alarmed, and jumping up in an instant, were preparing to retire, as it was supposed, to fetch their arms. Mr. Byron therefore ran and stopped the sailors, directing one of them only to come forward, when he had got all the tobacco they could muster among them. This restored peace, and all the Indians resumed their places, except an old man, who sung a long song to Mr. Byron; at nearly the conclusion of which Mr. Cumming, the first Lieutenant, brought the tobacco. This gentleman, tho’ six feet two inches high, was himself astonished at the diminutive figure he cut among the strangers, who were broad and muscular in proportion to their height. The Commodore having distributed the tobacco, they made signs for him to ride to their huts; but he intimated, that he must return to the ship; on which they sat down again, apparently much concerned. Their horses, though not large, were active, and much under command: their saddles were like an English pad, and the bridle was formed of a thong of leather, with the bit made of wood; they had no stirrups, and both men and women rode astride. When the Commodore left them they kept their seats, not once offering to follow him.
On the 21st of December they began sailing up the Streight of Magellan, with a view to take in a proper stock of wood and water, as the finding Falkland’s Islands was yet a matter of uncertainty. They remarked a single Indian on this shore, who waved his hand to them till he lost sight of the ship; they likewise saw several guanicoes on the hills. On the evening of the 22d six Indians came on the beach, hallooing, and making signs that they wished an acquaintance with the crew; but, as the seamen were fatigued, the Commodore would not send off a boat to them. On the 25th they saw a point of land near St. George’s Island, to which Mr. Byron gave the name of PORPOIS POINT.