to despair, and expected every moment to be swallowed up in the waves.
Besides the passions which naturally agitate and alarm the human mind
in such awful situations, when certain death, in one of its most
terrible forms, is before it, Columbus had to endure feelings of
distress peculiar to himself. He dreaded that all knowledge of the
amazing discoveries which he had made was now to perish; mankind were
to be deprived of every benefit that might have been derived from the
happy success of his schemes; and his own name would descend to
posterity as that of a rash, deluded adventurer, instead of being
transmitted with the honor due to the author and conductor of the most
noble enterprise that had ever been undertaken. These reflections
extinguished all sense of his own personal danger. Less affected with
the loss of life than solicitous to preserve the memory of what he had
attempted and achieved, he retired to his cabin, and wrote upon
parchment a short account of the voyage which he had made, of the
course which he had taken, of the situation and riches of the
countries which he had discovered, and of the colony that he had left
there. Having wrapped up this in an oiled cloth, which he enclosed in
a cake of wax, he put it into a cask carefully stopped up, and threw
it into the sea, in hopes that some fortunate accident might preserve
a deposit of so much importance to the world.’

The storm at length abated, and Columbus was able to reach the Azores.
After being detained here for a short time by a dispute with the
Portuguese governor of one of the islands, he continued his voyage,
anxious to reach Spain before the Pinta, which had again parted
company with him in the storm, with the design, he feared, of being
the first to carry the news of his discovery to Spain. A second storm,
however, obliged him to make for the coast of Portugal, and take
refuge in the Tagus. Proceeding to Lisbon by the king’s invitation, he
was received with the highest honors――having thus the satisfaction of
announcing the success of his great scheme to the very persons who,
fourteen years before, had scouted and rejected it. After remaining
five days at Lisbon, he set out for Palos, having still heard no
tidings of the Pinta. He reached the little Spanish seaport on the
15th of March, seven months and four days from the time of his
departure from it. Great was the excitement among the inhabitants as
they saw the little bark, which they instantly recognized, standing up
the river. And when the news spread that the new world was discovered,
that Columbus had returned with gold and specimens of the productions
of the new lands, and, above all, with live natives on board his ship,
the joy was indescribable. The bells were rung, the shops shut, all
business was suspended, and the whole population hurried to the shore
to receive the admiral with shouts and acclamations, such as usually
attend the visits of royalty. Columbus’ first act on landing was to
march with his people to church, to return thanks for the success of
his voyage. On the evening of the day of his arrival, the missing
Pinta likewise entered the harbor, having been driven far to the north
by the violence of the storm. The commander, Martin Alonzo Pinzon,
full of remorse and chagrin for his past conduct, took to his bed
almost immediately on reaching Palos, and died in a few days.

After the first expressions of joy and admiration, Columbus departed
for Seville. From this place he sent a message to Barcelona, where the
king and queen at that time resided, to lay before them a brief
account of his voyage, and to receive from them an indication of their
royal will. His reception at Barcelona was particularly gratifying. He
made a sort of triumphal entry, surrounded by knights and nobles, who
emulated each other in their efforts to swell his praise. He was
received publicly by the sovereigns, in a splendid saloon, seated on
the throne, and encircled by a magnificent court. On his entrance,
they rose to greet him, and would hardly allow him to kiss their
hands, considering it too unworthy a mark of vassalage. Columbus then
gave an account of his discoveries, and exhibited the different
articles which he had brought home with him. He described the quantity
of spices, the promise of gold, the fertility of the soil, the
delicious climate, the never-fading verdure of the trees, the
brilliant plumage of the birds, in the new regions which his own
enterprise had acquired for his sovereigns. He then drew their
attention to six natives of the new world, whom he had brought, and
who were present, and described their manners and dispositions. He
exhibited their dresses and ornaments, their rude utensils, their
feeble arms; which corresponded with his description of them as naked
and ignorant barbarians. To this he added, that he had observed no
traces of idolatry or superstition among them, and that they all
seemed to be convinced of the existence of a Supreme Being. The
conclusion of his speech was in these words: ‘That God had reserved
for the Spanish monarchs not only all the treasures of the new world,
but a still greater treasure, of inestimable value, in the infinite
number of souls destined to be brought over into the bosom of the
Christian church.’

After he had finished his address, the whole assembly fell upon their
knees, while an anthem was chanted by the choir of the royal chapel.
With songs of praise the glory was given to God for the discovery of a
new world. Columbus and his adventures were for many days the wonder
and delight of the people and the court. The sovereigns admitted the
admiral to their audience at all hours, and loaded him with every mark
of favor and distinction. Men of the highest rank were proud of the
honor of his company.

The news of the great discovery which had been made soon spread over
Europe, and the name of Columbus at once became celebrated over the
whole of the civilized world. As it was universally believed that the
lands which he had discovered were what he supposed them to be――the
extremity of the Asiatic continent――they were spoken of as the Indies;
and hence, even after the error was found out, the name of _West
Indies_ still continued to be applied to them.

THE SECOND VOYAGE――COLONY FOUNDED IN HISPANIOLA.――No time was lost in
fitting out a second expedition to the new world. On the morning of
the 25th September, 1493, Columbus left the bay of Cadiz with three
large ships and fourteen caravels, loaded with everything necessary to
found a colony, and manned not with despondent sailors, as the first
fleet had been, but with eager and joyous adventurers, with young and
bold cavaliers. In the fleet were several enthusiastic priests, who
embarked with the intention of spreading Christianity among the
benighted heathens of the new lands.

Steering farther south than in his last voyage, the first land which
Columbus made was one of the Caribbee, or Leeward Islands, to which he
gave the name of Dominica. It was discovered on the 2d of November,
1493. After cruising for about three weeks among these islands, giving
names to several of the largest, among which may be mentioned Porto
Rico, and everywhere discovering traces of that savage and warlike
disposition which the Haytians had attributed to the Caribs, he bent
his course to the north-west, anxious to learn the fate of the little
colony which he had left at Hispaniola. Anchoring off the coast of La
Navidad, he was surprised and alarmed to find none of the Spaniards on
the shore to welcome him, and to receive no return-signals to the
shots which he fired announcing his arrival. He soon learned the
dreadful truth. Not a man of the thirty-eight he had left remained
alive――they had all fallen victims to their own imprudence and
licentiousness. A mystery hung about their story which was never fully
cleared up; but it appeared, from the accounts of the natives, that as
soon as Columbus had departed the men had begun to range through the
island, committing all sorts of crimes, and losing the respect of the
Indians; that at length one of the five chieftains of the island,
named Caonabo, had attacked the fort, and put them all to death; and
that Guacanagari and many of his subjects had been wounded in trying
to protect them. With this account Columbus was obliged to be content,
although some of his officers questioned its truth, and suspected
Guacanagari of having been concerned in the massacre of their
countrymen.

A second colony was immediately founded under better auspices. The
plan of a city was marked out; and in a short time the building was
sufficiently far advanced to afford protection to all who intended to
remain on the island. To this rising city, Columbus gave the name of
Isabella, in honor of the queen of Castile. Even thus early in the
history of the colony, however, symptoms of discontent broke out. Many
of the Spaniards were attacked by the diseases incident to a new
climate; others, and especially such as were of noble families, began
to complain of the hard labor imposed upon them. They had imagined
that, on reaching the new world, they would find lumps of gold lying
on the soil ready to be gathered, and mines of diamonds which it would
only be necessary to open, in order to grow rich; and when they found
that what gold the island contained was only to be obtained by
industry, and that the principal value of the new country consisted in
the fertility of its soil, and its readiness to yield abundant produce
to the patient cultivator, they could not conceal their disappointment
and dislike to the ambitious foreigner, whose false representations,
they said, had lured them from their homes. To banish these gloomy
thoughts from the minds of the colonists, Columbus, as soon as the
settlement of Isabella was in tolerable condition, employed himself
and his men in expeditions into the interior of the island, especially
to the mountainous district of Cibao, where gold was said to be
obtained in large quantities.

Returning from a long expedition into the interior in the end of March
1492, Columbus found the colony of Isabella in a most flourishing
condition. The only drawbacks to the satisfaction of Columbus were the
illness of many of the colonists, their growing discontent, and the
symptoms of ill-will which the natives began at length to manifest
towards the Spaniards. Still, as there was no appearance of any
interruption to the tranquillity of the colony, Columbus resolved to
undertake a voyage of discovery through the Archipelago, with a view
to reach the great Indian continent, of which his imagination was
still full. Leaving, therefore, his brother Diego to govern the
Island, with the assistance of a council of officers, and intrusting
the command of a body of soldiers to Don Pedro Margarita, he sailed
from Hayti on the 24th of April 1494. For five months he sailed in
various directions through the West Indian Archipelago in quest of the
imaginary Cathay or Cipango; discovering nothing of consequence,
however, except the island of Jamaica. The weather was tempestuous;
and it was only by incessant care on the part of the admiral that his
fleet was kept afloat. At length, wearied out with his labors, he was
attacked by a violent fever, which terminated in a sort of lethargy or
paralysis of all his faculties; and his officers, despairing of his
life, returned to Hispaniola in the month of September.

Here a joyful surprise awaited Columbus, which contributed greatly to
his recovery. His brother Bartholomew, whom he had not seen for
several years, had arrived in the island during his absence.
Bartholomew, it will be remembered, had been despatched in 1488 to
England, with offers of his brother’s project to Henry VIII; but had
been captured by pirates on the way. Escaping at length, he was
engaged in negotiations with the English monarch, when he learned that
his brother had returned to Spain with the announcement of a new
world. Ere he could reach Spain, however, Columbus had departed on his
second voyage; but on arriving, he had been treated with great honor
by the Spanish sovereigns, and intrusted with the command of a
squadron which they were sending out to the colony with provisions.
Bartholomew was a man of extraordinary vigor and talent, with less
enthusiasm and genius than his brother the admiral, but his equal in
decision and sagacity; and much superior to his other brother Diego,
who, though a worthy and good man, was of a soft and yielding
character.

During Columbus’ absence the colony had fallen into confusion. Besides
the growing discontent of many of the colonists, the natives were in
insurrection――provoked, as it appeared, by the ravages and cruelties
of the whites. It was necessary, in the first place, to reduce the
natives to obedience. Several months were spent in this wretched and
bloody work; which was at length accomplished at the expense of the
lives of some Spaniards and thousands of the natives. Many of the
latter were also taken prisoners, and reduced to servitude; some of
them being even shipped to Spain, to be sold in the slave market. The
natives universally were compelled to pay tribute. ‘Each person above
fourteen years of age, who lived in those districts where gold was
found, was obliged to pay quarterly as much gold dust as filled a
hawk’s bell; from those in other parts of the country twenty-five
pounds of cotton were demanded.’ This was the first regular taxation
of the Indians, and served as a precedent for exactions still more
intolerable. Such an imposition was extremely contrary to those maxims
which Columbus had hitherto inculcated with respect to the mode of
treating them. But intrigues were carrying on in the court of Spain at
this juncture, in order to undermine his power and discredit his
operations, which constrained him to depart from his own system of
administration. Several unfavorable accounts of his conduct, as well
as of the countries discovered by him, had been transmitted to Spain.
Columbus saw that there was but one method of supporting his own
credit, and of silencing his adversaries. He must produce such a
quantity of gold as would not only justify what he had reported with
respect to the richness of the country, but encourage Ferdinand and
Isabella to persevere in prosecuting his plans. The necessity of
obtaining it forced him not only to impose a heavy tax upon the
Indians, but to exact payment of it with extreme rigor; and may be
pleaded in excuse for his deviating on this occasion from the mildness
and humanity with which he uniformly treated that unhappy people.

The task of reducing the island to order occupied Columbus till
towards the end of the year 1495. Meanwhile the representations of his
enemies in Spain had gained such weight over the cold and jealous
Ferdinand, and even over the generous soul of Isabella, that they
resolved to send out a commissioner to investigate into his conduct.
The person chosen for this office was Aguado, a groom of the king’s
bed-chamber. On arriving in Hispaniola, Aguado’s behavior was so
arrogant, and had such a bad effect upon the interests of the colony,
that Columbus determined to proceed to Spain, and vindicate his
conduct personally to the sovereigns. Accordingly, appointing his
brother Bartholomew adelantado, or lieutenant-governor, of the island,
and Francis Roldan chief-justice, he set sail in the spring of 1496,
and arrived safely in Spain.

THIRD AND FOURTH VOYAGES――ILL-TREATMENT OF COLUMBUS――DEATH. The
appearance of Columbus in Spain, his manly and candid defense of his
conduct, his glowing exposition of the value of his discoveries, and
the best means of prosecuting them, had the effect of silencing his
detractors for a time. A third expedition was fitted out at his
solicitation. It was not, however, till the beginning of 1498 that all
was in readiness. This delay arose partly from the dilatoriness of
officials, and partly from the unwillingness of men to engage in an
enterprise which did not now appear so captivating as it did at first.
‘To supply the want of voluntary recruits,’ a measure was adopted, at
the suggestion of Columbus, which shows the desperate alternatives to
which he was reduced by the great reaction of public sentiment. This
was to commute the sentences of criminals condemned to banishment, to
the galleys, or to the mines, into transportation to the new
settlements, where they were to labor in the public service without
pay. This pernicious measure, calculated to poison the population of
an infant community at its very source, was a fruitful cause of
trouble, and misery and detriment to the colony. It has been
frequently adopted by various nations whose superior experience should
have taught them better, and has proved the bane of many a rising
settlement. It is assuredly as unnatural for a metropolis to cast
forth its crimes and its vices upon its colonies, as it would be for a
parent willingly to engraft disease upon his children.

On the 30th of May 1498, Columbus set sail on his third voyage, with a
squadron of six vessels. Sailing much farther south in this voyage
than he had done in the two former, he landed on the coast of Paria,
in the South American continent. The circumstances of this third
voyage, part of which lay within the tropics, and the appearance of
the new coasts to which it conducted him, made a strong impression on
the mind of Columbus, which had a natural bent for theorising upon
every phenomenon presented to it. Among other theories which he
started about this time, was one by which he attempted to explain the
variation of the compass, and other extraordinary changes which
occurred in passing from the old world to the new. According to this
theory, he supposed that the earth, instead of being spherical, as
hitherto imagined, was elongated or pear-shaped, with one end bulbous,
and the other produced and tapering――a theory which, however absurd it
may seem, was really a step in advance of the science of the day.

After coasting along the South American continent, acquiring
information which he thought all tended to show that he was on the
track of the long-desired Indies of Marco Polo, Columbus was obliged,
by the shattered condition of his ships, to make for Hispaniola. Here
he found all in confusion. Roldan, whom he had appointed chief
justice, had rebelled against the authority of the adelantado, and was
living in another part of the island as the head of a band of
insurgents. Bartholomew had governed the colony vigorously and well;
but being a foreigner, and not of high birth, he was unpopular with
the Spaniards. It required all Columbus’ skill and command of temper
to restore the semblance of order. By a seasonable proclamation,
offering free pardon to such as should merit it by returning to their
duty, he made impression upon some of the malcontents. By engaging to
grant such as should desire it the liberty of returning to Spain, he
allured all those unfortunate adventurers who, from sickness and
disappointment, were disgusted with the country. By promising to
reëstablish Roldan in his former office, he soothed his pride; and, by
complying with most of his demands in behalf of his followers, he
satisfied their avarice. Thus gradually, and without bloodshed, but
after many negotiations, he dissolved this dangerous combination,
which threatened the colony with ruin, and restored the appearance of
order, regular government, and tranquillity.

Meanwhile Columbus’ enemies were again undermining his popularity in
Spain. The accounts which Roldan and others sent home of the arrogance
of Columbus and his brothers, received more credit than the admiral’s
own despatches. Owing also to the cessation of labor in the colony,
Columbus was unable to send home so much wealth as the sovereigns
expected. Private adventurers were likewise fitting out expeditions of
discovery to the new world; and Ferdinand began to be of opinion that
it would be more for the interests of the crown to deprive Columbus of
his great and exclusive privileges as his viceroy in the new world,
and to place the colonial government on a new footing. Isabella alone
seemed to befriend the admiral. At length, however, on the arrival of
some ships from Hispaniola freighted with natives, whom Columbus had
been forced to permit some of the refractory colonists to take with
them on their return to Spain, to be sold in the slave market, her
queenly soul, abhorring the idea of making wealth by the sale of human
beings, took fire, and she indignantly exclaimed, ‘What right has the
admiral to give away my vassals?’ She no longer opposed Ferdinand’s
desire to send out a person to examine into the conduct of Columbus,
and, if necessary, to order him home. The person chosen as
commissioner was Don Francisco de Bovadilla, an officer of the royal
household.

On arriving at Hispaniola, Bovadilla reversed the order of his written
instructions. He superseded Columbus before investigating into his
conduct. Entering the admiral’s residence at Isabella, he seized all
his furniture, books, and papers; and by his orders Columbus, with his
brothers Diego and Bartholomew, were put in irons. What a burlesque on
national gratitude was this outrage! The man who had led Europeans to
an acquaintance with America, actually put in manacles by a miserable
instrument of the Spanish government! Overcome with emotion, Columbus
was thus led on board a ship which waited to receive him. On arriving
on board, an officer charged with the duty of attending on him and his
brothers offered, with considerate humanity, to remove the irons from
his prisoners; but the admiral refused, saying that they were put on
by the command of their majesties, and should remain till removed by
the same authority. These irons Columbus afterwards preserved as
relics.

The rumor had no sooner circulated at Cadiz and Seville that Columbus
and his brothers had arrived, loaded with chains, and condemned to
death, than it gave rise to a burst of public indignation. The
excitement was strong and universal; and messengers were immediately
despatched to convey the intelligence to Ferdinand and Isabella. The
sovereigns were moved by this exhibition of popular feeling, and were
offended that their name and authority should have been used to
sanction such dishonorable violence. They gave orders for the
immediate liberation of the prisoners, and for their being escorted to
Granada with the respect and honor they deserved. They annulled,
without examination, all the processes against them, and promised an
ample punishment for all their wrongs. At his first interview with the
sovereigns after his arrival, Columbus was so overcome that he threw
himself at their feet, where he remained for some minutes drowned in
tears, and unable to speak from the violence of his sobbings.

Columbus, however, was not reäppointed to his command in Hispaniola.
Bovadilla, it is true, was superseded; but his successor was Don
Nicholas de Ovando, a Spanish cavalier. It was represented to Columbus
that this appointment was only temporary, and that as soon as the
colony was in an orderly condition, he would be reinstated in his
privileges. In the meantime, he was to undertake a fourth voyage of
discovery. In consequence of the knowledge which he had obtained on
his previous voyages――as well as from the voyages of the numerous
adventurers who followed him――of the extent of the American continent,
connected with the announcement with which Europe was then ringing, of
the final accomplishment of the great feat of the circumnavigation of
Africa by Vasco de Gama in 1497, the genius of Columbus had conceived
a new project, or rather a modification of his former one. This was
the discovery of some strait lying somewhere between Honduras and
Paria, in about the situation of what is now known as the Isthmus of
Darien, and leading into the Indian Ocean. Having discovered this
strait, he would sail through it, coast along the Indies to the shores
of Arabia, and either sail up the Red Sea, and travel overland to
Spain; or repeat Vasco de Gama’s feat the reverse way, and reach Spain
after having circumnavigated the world. Such was the gigantic scheme
with the thoughts of which the great old man regaled his declining
years. We mistake the character of Columbus if we suppose him merely
to have been a man of extraordinary courage, coupled with what we
usually understand by the term intellect. He had perhaps one of the
most daring and fanciful imaginations. He regarded himself as a
personage expressly predestined by heaven to discover a new world, and
prepare the way for the recovery of the holy sepulchre, and the
conversion of the whole world to Christianity. These three events he
conceived to be linked to each other by prophecy; and he considered
that he was the instrument in God’s hands for bringing them all about.

On the 9th of May 1502, Columbus again set sail from Cadiz on a fourth
voyage of discovery. During this expedition he touched at some parts
of the South American continent, and also at some of the
formerly-discovered islands; but he failed in making any important
discoveries, in consequence of the bad state of his vessels, which
were old, and unfit for sailing. With a squadron reduced to a single
vessel he now returned to Spain, where he heard with regret of the
death of his patron Isabella. This was a sad blow to his expectations
of redress and remuneration. Ferdinand was jealous and ungrateful. He
was weary of a man who had conferred so much glory on his kingdom, and
unwilling to repay him with the honors and privileges his
extraordinary services so richly merited. Columbus, therefore, sank
into obscurity, and was reduced to such straitened circumstances, that
according to his own account, he had no place to repair to except an
inn, and very frequently had not wherewithal to pay his reckoning.
Disgusted and mortified by the base conduct of Ferdinand, exhausted
with the hardships which he had suffered, and oppressed with
infirmities, Columbus closed his life at Valladolid on the 20th of May
1506. He died with a composure of mind suitable to the magnanimity
which distinguished his character, and with sentiments of piety
becoming that supreme respect for religion which he manifested in
every occurrence of his life.

Columbus experienced the fate of most great men――little esteemed
during his life, but almost deified after his decease. Fedinand, with
a meanness which covers his memory with infamy, allowed this great man
to pine and die, a victim of injustice and mortification; but no
sooner was he dead, than he erected a splendid monument over his
remains in one of the churches of Seville. The body of Columbus was
not destined, however, to be indebted to Spain for even this
posthumous honor; it was afterwards according to the will of the
deceased, transferred to St. Domingo, and buried in the cathedral
there; but on the cession of that island, to the French, in the year
1795, it was transferred to Havana, in the island of Cuba, where we
hope it will rest in peace.

The discoveries of Columbus laid open a knowledge of what are now
termed the West India Islands, and a small portion of the South
American continent, which this great navigator, till the day of his
death, believed to be a part of Asia or India. About ten years after
his decease the real character of America and its islands became known
to European navigators; and by a casual circumstance one of these
adventurers, _Amerigo_ Vespucii, a Florentine, had the honor of
conferring the name _America_ upon a division of the globe which
ought, in justice, to have been called after the unfortunate COLUMBUS.

MAGELLAN――FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.

Ferdinand Magellan was by birth a Portuguese, decended from a good
family, and born towards the end of the fifteenth century. In
consequence of certain services in the Indian Seas, he applied to the
government for some recompense; but being treated with neglect, he
left his own country to seek employment in a foreign land. In company
with Ruy Falero, an eminent astronomer, and one of his associates, he
traveled into Spain, and explained to Charles V, the reigning monarch,
his project of making discoveries in distant seas. The court listened
to the adventurer with favor, and consented to fit out an expedition.

Magellan’s little squadron consisted of five ships, manned with 237
men, and supplied with provisions, ammunition and stores, for two
years. On the 1st of August, 1519, they left Seville, and on the 27th
of September sailed from Sanlucar, steering for the Canaries. They
refreshed at Teneriffe, and early in October passed the Cape de Verd
Islands. Holding on their course, they bore along the coast of Africa,
till they crossed the line, seventy days after their departure. In the
beginning of December, they came to that part of Brazil which is now
called the Bay of St. Lucia. They subsequently anchored at the mouth
of a large river, supposed to be the Rio Janeiro, where they continued
a fortnight. On their first landing, the inhabitants flocked to the
beach in great numbers, beholding, as they imagined, five sea-monsters
approaching the shore. When the boats put out from the ships, the
natives set up a great shout, conceiving them to be young
sea-monsters, the offspring of the others.

Proceeding along the South American Coast, the squadron arrived in
April, 1520, at a large bay, now called by the name of St. Julian.
Here they saw a wild, gigantic race, of great size and fierceness, who
made a roaring not unlike that of bulls. One of them came on board the
admiral’s ship, and was well pleased with his reception; but happening
to cast his eyes on a looking-glass, he was so terrified, that
starting backwards, he beat to the ground two men who stood behind
him. Others subsequently came on board, and their behavior afforded
great entertainment to the officers. One of these savages ate a basket
full of ship-biscuits, and drank a cask of water at a meal. They wore
sandals, or a kind of shoes, made of skins, and this caused their feet
to appear like those of an animal. Magellan named them Patagonians,
from the Spanish word _pata_, signifying a hoof, or paw.

Magellan determined to continue here till the return of spring, as it
is winter in the southern hemisphere during our summer. He had ordered
the allowance of provisions to be shortened, to meet this exigence,
which caused much discontent among the crews. A mutiny soon followed,
which was not quelled till one of the officers was hanged, and some
others were sent on shore to be left among the Patagonians. Five
dreary months were passed in the harbor of St. Julian, during which,
every exertion was made to insure the successful prosecution of the
voyage. On the 24th of August, the squadron again set sail, the
weather being fine, and proceeded southward, till a violent gale from
the east drove one of the vessels on shore, but the crew was happily
saved. Coasting south with the four remaining ships, they approached a
cape, near which an opening was discovered which was found afterwards
to be a strait. Upon this, Magellan gave orders that all other ships
should carefully examine the strait, promising to wait for them a
certain number of days. While the three vessels were employed in this
expedition, one of them was driven out of the strait by the reflux of
the tide, when the crew, dissatisfied with their situation, rose on
their captain, made him prisoner, and again set sail for Europe. After
waiting several days beyond the time he had fixed, Magellan entered
the strait or arm of the sea, which has ever since retained his name.
The entrance lies in 52 degrees south latitude, and the strait, which
is about 110 leagues in length, is very wide in some places, and in
others not more than half a league from shore to shore. On both sides
the land was high, and the mountains were covered with snow, on
advancing about 50 leagues west from the entrance.

In about six weeks they found themselves again in an open sea, the
coast terminating westward in a cape, and the shore of the continent
taking a northerly direction. The sight of the Pacific Ocean gave
Magellan the utmost joy, he being the first European who sailed upon
it. Proceeding W.N.W. he arrived at the Ladrone Islands, to which he
gave that name on account of the thievish disposition of the natives.

They sailed from the Ladrones on the 10th of March, 1521, and after
visiting a number of islands, entered the port of Lebu on the 7th of
April. From Lebu they sailed to the island of Mathan, which being
governed by two kings, and one of them refusing to pay tribute to the
king of Spain, Magellan prepared to reduce him. He marched into the
interior of the island, accompanied by sixty Europeans. Here he was
attacked by three distinct bodies of the islanders, whose united force
amounted to upwards of six thousand. The battle was for some time
doubtful, till Magellan’s impetuosity carrying him too far, he was
killed by being wounded in the leg with a poisoned arrow, and stabbed
through the body by a spear. Eight or nine of the Spaniards and
fifteen of the Indians were also slain. After the death of the
admiral, new commanders were chosen from among the surviving officers,
and as the ships were now in a very bad condition, it was found
necessary to make use of one to repair the other two.

Sailing W.S.W. they came to the rich island of Borneo. From this place
they sailed to Cimbubon, where they were detained forty days in
repairing their ships and taking in wood and water. Bending their
course hence S.E. for the Moluccas, they came to anchor in the port of
Tidore on the 8th of November. After remaining here some time, they
set sail in one ship alone and with fifty-nine persons on board, for
Europe. To double the Cape of Good Hope with the greater safety, they
sailed as low as 42 degrees S. latitude, where they were obliged to
wait seven weeks for a wind. On doubling the cape they were much
distressed by hunger and sickness. For two months they held on their
course to the N.W. without touching at any port, during which time
they lost twenty-one persons, and the rest were on the point of
starving.

In this situation they arrived at St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd
Islands. Finally on the 7th of September, they entered St. Lucar in
Spain, with their number reduced to about eighteen persons. According
to their reckoning, they had sailed 14,000 leagues, and crossed the
equator six times, having been absent three years wanting fourteen
days. This was the FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD that had ever been
made.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.

Mr. Drake was first apprenticed to the master of a small vessel
trading to France and Zealand; at the age of eighteen he went purser
of a ship to the Bay of Biscay, and at twenty made a voyage to the
coast of Guinea. Having obtained Queen Elizabeth’s permission for an
expedition against the Spaniards, five ships were fitted out, having
on board 164 able men and a large quantity of provisions. This fleet
sailed out of Plymouth Sound on the 5th of November, 1577; but meeting
with a violent storm, they were obliged to put back and refit. On the
13th of December they sailed again, and on the 25th passed Cape Cantin
on the coast of Barbary. After visiting numerous islands and meeting
with various adventures, having passed the line, they at length
discovered the coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, it being
fifty-four days since they saw land. As soon as the people on shore
saw the ships, they made large fires in different parts, and performed
ceremonies to prevail on the gods to sink the vessels, or at least to
prevent their landing. Sailing southward, they anchored in fort St.
Julian, where the admiral going on shore with six men, some of the
natives slew the gunner, whose death was revenged by the commander,
who killed the murderer with his own hand. At this place Magellan
having executed one of his company who conspired against his life,
Drake caused one of the crew named Doughty to be tried for the same
offense against himself; and executed him on the same gibbet.

On the 20th of August, they fell in with the strait of Magellan, which
they entered, but found so full of intricate windings, that the same
wind which was sometimes in their favor, was at others against them.
After several difficulties, they entered the South Sea on the 6th of
September, and on the next day a violent storm drove them 200 leagues
south of the strait, where they anchored among some islands, abounding
in herbs and water. Being now arrived at the other mouth of the
strait, they steered for the coast of Chili. On their course they met
an Indian in a canoe, who informed them that at St. Jago there was a
large ship laden for Peru. The admiral rewarded him for this
information, whereupon he conducted them to the place where the ship
lay at anchor. There were only eight Spaniards and three negroes on
board, who mistaking them for friends, welcomed them, and invited them
to drink Chili wine. Drake accepted the invitation, and going on
board, put them under hatches; arriving on shore, he rifled the town
and chapel, from which he took great quantities of silver and gold.
Proceeding to sea, they arrived at the port of Tarapaxa, where some of
them going on shore, found a Spaniard asleep, with eighteen bars of
silver laying by his side, which they took without waking him.

Entering the port of Lima on the 13th of February, they found twelve
sail of ships at anchor unguarded, the crews being all on shore.
Examining these vessels they found much plate, together with rich
silks and linens, which they took away; but having learned that a rich
ship called the Cacafuego had lately sailed from that harbor for
Taila, the admiral determined to follow her. Having come up with the
chase, they gave her three shots, which brought away the mizzen-mast,
whereupon they boarded her, and found thirteen chests full of rials of
plate, eighty pounds-weight of gold, a quantity of jewels, and
twenty-six tons of silver in bars.

They subsequently took several other rich prizes, and Drake having now
revenged himself on the Spaniards, began to think of the best way of
returning to England. To return by the straits of Magellan would be to
throw himself into the hands of the Spaniards; he therefore determined
to sail westward to the East Indies, and return by the Cape of Good
Hope. But wanting wind, he sailed toward the north, and in 38 degrees
N. latitude, discovered a country, which from its white cliffs he
called New Albion, though it is now known by the name of California.
Here they were received with much hospitality by the natives, and the
king made Drake a solemn tender of his kingdom. Sailing hence, they
saw the Ladrones on the 13th of October. The admiral held on his
course without delay, and on the 4th of November, fell in with the
Moluccas. Having arrived at a little island south of Celebes, they
staid 26 days, in order to repair the ships. Setting sail hence, they
ran among a number of small islands, and the wind shifting about
suddenly, drove them upon a rock, on the evening of the 9th of
January, 1579, where they stuck fast, till four in the afternoon of
the next day. In this extremity they lightened the vessel by taking
out eight pieces of ordnance and three tons of cloves. On the 18th of
June, they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and on the 22d of July
arrived at Sierra Leone, where they found a great number of elephants.
They staid here two days, and holding on their course for Plymouth,
arrived there on Monday, September 26, 1580; but according to their
own reckoning, on Sunday the 25th, having gone round the world in two
years, ten months, and a few days. The honor of knighthood was
conferred on Drake, and a chair was made from his ship, which is still
shown as a curiosity at Oxford.

HENRY HUDSON.

The distinguished English naval discoverer, HENRY HUDSON, sailed from
London in the year 1607, in a small vessel, for the purpose of
discovering a north-east passage to China and Japan, with a crew of
only ten men and a boy besides himself, and, proceeding beyond the
80th degree of latitude, returned to England in September. In a second
voyage, the next year, he landed at Nova Zembla, but could proceed no
farther eastward. In 1609, he undertook a third voyage, under the
patronage of the Dutch East India Company. Being unsuccessful in his
attempt to find a north-east passage, he sailed for Davis’ straits,
but struck the continent of America in 44 deg. N. lat., and holding a
southerly course, discovered the mouth of the river Hudson, which he
ascended about fifty leagues in a boat. His last voyage was undertaken
in 1610. He sailed, April 17th, in a barque named the Discovery, with
a crew of twenty-three men, and came within sight of Greenland, June
4th. Proceeding westward he reached, in latitude 60 deg., the strait
bearing his name. Through this he advanced along the coast of
Labrador, to which he gave the name of Nova Brittannia, until it
issued into the vast bay, which is also called after him. He resolved
to winter in the most southern part of it, and the crew drew up the
ship in a small creek, and endeavored to sustain the severity of that
dismal climate, in which attempt they endured severe privations.
Hudson, however, fitted up his shallop for farther discoveries; but,
not being able to establish any communication with the natives, or to
revictual his ship, with tears in his eyes he distributed his little
remaining bread to his men, and prepared to return. Having a
dissatisfied and mutinous crew, he imprudently uttered some threats of
setting some of them on shore; upon which a body of them entered his
cabin at night, tied his arms behind him, and put him in his own
shallop, at the west end of the straits, with his son, John Hudson,
and seven of the most infirm of the crew. They were then turned
adrift, and were never more heard of. A small part of the crew, after
enduring incredible hardships, arrived at Plymouth, in September,
1611.

LE MAIRE AND SCHOUTEN――FIRST VOYAGE ROUND CAPE HORN.

A belief that to the south of the strait of Magellan there would be
found an open sea, or some other passage leading to the South Sea, had
many years been gaining ground, when a company of Dutch merchants
determined to make the experiment, which, if successful, would open to
them, as they belived, the trade to India, by a new, instead of an
interdicted passage, which the strait of Magellan then was.

Jacob le Maire was appointed principal merchant, and president of the
ships; and Wilhelm Schouten, an able seamen, received the charge of
patron or master mariner. The vessels fitted out were the Eendracht, a
ship of three hundred and sixty tons, nineteen guns, and sixty-five
men, and a galliot, named the Horne, of one hundred and ten tons,
eight guns and twenty-two men. The president, Le Maire, and Patron
Schouten, sailed in the former; the latter was commanded by Jan
Schouten, brother to the patron, with Adrian Claesz as merchant.

June the 4th, 1615, they quitted the Texel, and in three days anchored
in the Downs, where an English gunner was hired. On the 30th of
August, dropped anchor in the road of Sierra Leone, where a stock of
twenty-five thousand lemons was purchased from the natives, for a few
beads. On the 5th of October, were in latitude four degrees seventeen
minutes N. when a great noise was heard on board the Eendracht, and
immediately after the sea around it became red with blood. Afterwards
a piece of the horn of some sea animal was found sticking in the
bottom of the ship, seven feet below the water line, having penetrated
through the planking, and into one of the ribs: about the same length
remained without; it was similar in shape and size to the end of an
elephant’s tooth.

Having passed the line, they struck soundings in seventy-five fathoms
depth, on the 4th of December, and two days after saw the American
coast. On the 8th, anchored in Port Desire, where they took a large
supply of birds, etc. On the 19th, the Horne caught fire, and was
totally consumed. On the 13th of January, 1616, the Eendracht quitted
Port Desire, and on the 20th, passed the latitude of the entrance of
the straits of Magellan. On the 24th saw Terra del Fuego to the right,
not more than a league off, and on the 29th passed to the north of
some rocky islets: Terra del Fuego appeared to the W. N. W. and W.,
all hilly land covered with snow, with a sharp point which they called
Cape Horne, in honor of the vessel which they had lost. On the 30th,
having passed to the south of the Cape, steered west, encountering
great waves with a current to the westward; and afterwards steered
north. The ship continued to advance northward, and on the 1st of
March, made the island of Juan Fernandez, and caught two tons of fish,
but could find no anchorage. Steering for the East Indies they visited
a number of small islands, and on the 5th of August came to the Isle
of Goley, subject to the King of Tidore. Sailed again next day; and,
after being much delayed by calms, met, September the 7th, with a ship
of their own country, anchoring the same day at the Island of Ternate.
They were kindly received by the people in power; the Eendracht had
not lost one of her crew in her long cruisings, and they had
discovered a new passage to the South Sea; yet these merits did not
avail them, for on the arrival of the ship at Batavia, she was seized
and condemned, on a supposed infringement of the rights of the Dutch
East India Company, the officers and crew being put on board other
ships, to be conveyed to Europe.

On the 31st of December, during the passage home, died the president,
Jacob Le Maire, a victim to the unworthy treatment he had received――a
worthy man and a skillful navigator; and on the 1st of July, 1617, his
companions arrived at Holland, by the way of Good Hope, having been
absent two years and seventeen days.

VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN JAMES, FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.

In the year 1630, several wealthy merchants of Bristol united in
fitting out a vessel for the purpose of accurately examining the whole
northern coast of America. The command of this vessel, which was
small, only of seventy tons burden, but one of the strongest ships of
her size that had ever been built, was given to Captain James. She was
provisioned for eighteen months, and manned with only twenty-two
seamen, but these were all excellent sailors.

His stores having been all shipped, and the men on board, Captain
James left Bristol in the month of April 1631. After passing the
southern coast of Ireland, he sailed in a west-north-west-erly
direction, and on the fourth of June discovered the coast of
Greenland. Two days subsequently to this, his vessel was encompassed
with ice, many immense pieces of which beat so violently against her
that the captain was fearful she would have been staved and sunk. The
boat that accompanied her was crushed to atoms. In one instance he was
obliged to order the ship to be made fast to a great piece of the ice,
and during a day and night to employ men incessantly in pushing off
such masses of ice as floated against her; but in this labor all their
poles were broken. The wind at length blew a perfect hurricane, and,
though the broken ice on almost all sides rose higher than the decks,
and the vessel was beaten about in a most alarming manner, she
suffered no injury.

On the morning of the tenth of June, these hardy adventurers passed
some masses of the ice that were as high as the topmost of their
vessel, and left Cape Desolation, in Greenland, to the eastward. The
weather was now so cold that at one time the sails and rigging were
all frozen. On the twentieth, the ship reached the southern point of
the island of Resolution, at the entrance of Hudson’s Strait, but she
was several times carried round by the current, and floating ice, and
was in imminent danger of being crushed to pieces before she could be
brought to anchor. It now began to snow heavily, and the wind blew a
storm from the westward. This drove the ice from the sea into the
harbor where the vessel was stationed, until it was choked up. For
some time the ice seemed to be perfectly firm and immovable, but it
floated out again at the ebb of the tide. The various dangers to which
the vessel was exposed in this harbor, of being thrown against the
rocks, crushed to pieces in the ice, and sunk, were so great that the
captain almost gave up all hope of being able to save her. He
describes the thundering noise of the masses of ice beating against
each other, the rushing of the water, and the fury of the current, to
have been tremendous. After much difficulty and the most persevering
exertions, however, she was navigated into a little cove or harbor,
where, being made fast to the rocks, she was at length rendered
tolerably secure.

Captain James landed on the island, but found that although the summer
was far advanced, the ponds were yet frozen. The ground was rocky and
barren, and no traces of animals were visible in the snow, though it
was evident from some hearths and remains of fire-wood which were
seen, that human beings had not long before visited the place. Captain
James continued here two days, and then sailed westward; but the
masses of ice were still almost impenetrable. They grated the sides of
the vessel with such violence that it was feared they would burst
through the planks. On looking out from the mast-head scarcely an acre
of open sea was visible: nothing was to be seen but a continued and
irregular range of ice, towering in different places to an immense
height. The ship was thus surrounded till the twenty-seventh of June,
when, by a gale from the south-east, the ice opened, and she was
enabled to make some way.

Though exposed to incessant danger by the immense masses of ice, which
floated on the surface of the ocean, Captain James and his associates
proceeded still westward, and entered Hudson’s Strait about the
beginning of July. On the fifteenth of that month, they arrived
betwixt Digg’s Island and Nottingham Island, but the summer was so
cold and unfavorable that it was now evident there would be no
possibility of proceeding much further northward this year. About a
fortnight afterwards, they were so fast enclosed in the ice, that
notwithstanding the ship had all her sails set, and it blew a strong
breeze, she was immovable and as firmly fixed as if she had been in a
dry dock. On this, the captain and many of the men walked out of her
to amuse themselves upon the ice. Several of the crew now began to
murmur, and to express great alarm, lest they should not be able
either to proceed or return; and lest their provisions, which were
beginning to fall short, would soon wholly fail. The captain
encouraged them as well as he was able, and though he was aware their
murmuring was not without a reason, he affected to ridicule their
fears. Among other contrivances to amuse them, he took a quantity of
spirits upon the ice, and there drank the king’s health, although
there was not a single man in the ship, and though she was at that
time under all her sails. This was the twenty-eighth of July. On the
thirtieth, they made some little way through the ice, part of the crew
heaving the vessel along with their shoulders, whilst others at the
same time, broke off the corners of the ice with mallets and iron
crows, to clear the way. This labor was continued on the following
day, and after much fatigue, they got the ship into thirty-five fathom
water. All this time they were in latitude 58 deg. 45 minutes north,
and a few days afterwards they were in an open sea free from ice. The
Captain and his crew now joined in devout thanksgiving for their
deliverance from the dangers to which they had been exposed.

A few days subsequently to this, whilst the ship was under sail, she
struck upon some rocks that were concealed by the water, and received
three such terrible blows, that the captain was fearful her masts
would have been shivered to pieces, and he had no doubt that a hole
had been beaten through her sides. But such was the strength of her
timbers that she received little injury, and in a short time, was
again out of danger.

On the twentieth of August, and in latitude 57 deg. north, they came
within sight of land, part of the continent of North America, which
the captain named New South Wales, in honor of Charles, Prince of
Wales, afterwards King Charles the second: and on the third of
September they passed a cape, to which he gave the name of Cape
Henrietta Maria, after the Queen. In the ensuing evening, they
encountered such a tempest of thunder, snow, rain, and wind, as none
of the crew had ever before been exposed to. The sea washed completely
over the decks, and the vessel rolled so tremendously, that it was not
without great difficulty all things could be kept fast in the hold,
and betwixt the decks.

As the winter was now approaching, Captain James began to look out for
some harbor, where he and his companions could pass that cheerless
season, with as little discomfort, and in as much security, as
possible. Landing, on the third of October, upon an island, in the bay
that has since been called James’ Bay, he found the tracks of deer,
and saw some wild fowl; but not being able to discover a safe
anchorage, he proceeded onward with the vessel, and two days
afterwards moored the ship, in a place of tolerable security near the
same island. It now snowed without intermission, and was so cold that
the sails were frozen quite hard, and the cable was as thick with ice
as a man’s body.

Several men were sent ashore to cut wood for fuel, and they collected
as much as, it was estimated, would last two or three months. It was
found inconvenient, particularly for some of the crew who were sick,
to continue entirely in the vessel; a kind of house was, therefore,
erected on shore, under the direction of the carpenter. In the
meantime the captain and some of the men went into the woods to see
whether they could discover any traces of human beings, that, in case
they found such, they might be on their guard against attack. None
were found. The topsails were now taken down from the vessel, thawed,
and dried by great fires, and then folded up and secured from wet
between the decks. The main-sail was carried on shore, to be used as a
covering for the house. In about four days, the house was ready, and a
portion of the crew slept in it every night, armed with muskets to
defend themselves in case of attack, and guarded by two buck-hounds,
which had been brought from England, for the hunting of deer. Such of
the other rigging of the vessel as could be taken down, was now
removed, and placed under the decks.

On the fourteenth of October, six of the men set out with the dogs, in
the hope of killing some deer, the tracks of which they had previously
seen. They wandered more than twenty miles over the snow, and returned
the next day with one small and lean animal; having passed a cold and
miserable night in the woods. Others went out a few days afterwards,
and to a still greater distance; these were not only unsuccessful, but
they lost one of their companions, who, on attempting to cross a small
frozen lake, fell in and was drowned. The captain consequently gave
directions that hunting to such distances should be no more attempted.

The crew at first brought beer ashore from the ship; but this, even in
their house, and close by the fire, was frozen and spoiled in one
night. After this they drank water, which they obtained from a well
that they sunk near the house. Their time was chiefly passed in
setting traps and hunting for foxes and other animals, and in such
occupations as were requisite for their own preservation.

The winter was now so far advanced, that the ship appeared, from the
shore, like a piece of ice in the form of a ship. The snow was frozen
on every part, and her decks and sides were covered with ice. The
captain began to despair of ever again getting her off. Every day the
men were employed in beating the ice from the cables, and digging it
out of the hawsers with a calking iron; and in these operations the
water would freeze on their clothes and hands, so as very soon to
render them unequal to almost any exertion.

The ship was found to beat so much, that the captain could devise no
other means of preventing her from being shattered to pieces and
destroyed, than by directing holes to be bored through her sides, and
sinking her in shallow water; where, in the ensuing spring, he might
have a chance of again raising her. This was a fearful expedient; but,
after all the provisions and things requisite for use on shore had
been taken out of her, it was adopted; although it was the general
opinion of the crew that she could never be floated again. They,
however, had so strong an attachment for their captain, and so much
confidence in him, that, even in the midst of despair, they obeyed
implicitly all his commands. With true Christian confidence, he
exhorted them not to be dismayed. ‘If,’ said he, ‘we end our days
here, we are as near heaven as in England; and we are much bound to
God Almighty for having given us so large a time for repentance, and
having thus, as it were, daily called upon us to prepare our souls for
a better life in heaven. He does not, in the meantime, deny that we
may use all proper means to save and prolong our lives; and in my
judgment, we are not so far past hope of returning to our native
country, but that I see a fair way by which we may effect it.’ He then
said that there was timber enough in the island for them to build a
pinnace or large boat, by which they might endeavor to effect their
escape, in case their vessel should be destroyed. This was on the
thirtieth of November.

The sufferings and the hardships which these brave men encountered for
many successive months, it is impossible to describe. Happily, they
had a tolerable store of provisions from their ship, and had not to
depend upon the precarious subsistence to be obtained by hunting.
Their liquids of every kind, wine, vinegar, oil, etc., were all frozen
so hard, that they were obliged to cut them with hatchets, and then
melt them over the fire for use.

In the beginning of January, the whole surface of the adjacent sea was
so entirely frozen, that no water whatever was to be seen. Some of the
men were obliged to be out of doors a considerable part of the day, in
fetching timber, and in other necessary employments. Their shoes were
all destroyed, except some that had been sunk in the ship, and which
were now, of course, inaccessible. They were, consequently, reduced to
the necessity of binding up their feet, as well as they could, in
pieces of cloth. Their noses, cheeks, and hands, were sometimes frozen
in blisters, which were as white as paper; and blisters as large as
walnuts rose on different parts of their skin. Their mouths became
sore, and their teeth loose.

Timber was cut down, according to the direction of the captain, and
the carpenter and crew worked hard at the pinnace, till nearly the end
of March, when the carpenter became so weak and ill, that it was
necessary to lead him to his labor.

Though they were in the midst of a wood, yet when their fuel began to
fail, they had great difficulty in obtaining more. Almost all the axes
had been broken in felling timber for the pinnace, and it was
peculiarly requisite that care should be taken of such cutting
instruments as remained, lest there should be none left for finishing
it. And, in felling the timber now, the trees were so hard frozen,
that it was first requisite to light large fires around such as were
to be cut, in order to thaw the wood, before the axes could make any
impression upon them.

During all this season of distress, Captain James and his crew never
omitted to perform their religious duties. They particularly
solemnized Easter day, the 26th of April, 1632; and it was on this
day, whilst they were sitting round their fire, that the captain
proposed to attempt, on the first opening of the warm weather, to
clear the ship of ice. This was considered by some of the crew
impossible; because they believed her to be filled with one solid mass
of ice. The attempt, however, was resolved upon; and the question was
as to the implements with which it was to be made. These were brought
into review, and were only two iron bars (one of which was broken),
and four broken shovels, apparently very ineffectual instruments for
such a labor.

The time passed miserably and slowly on, till the 16th of May, when
they had a comfortable and sunny day. Some efforts were this day made
to clear the decks of snow. From this period the vessel began to
occupy much of the attention of the captain and his crew. The great
cabin was found to be free both from ice and water, and a fire was
lighted to clear and dry it. One of the anchors, which was supposed to
have been lost, they found under the ice, and recovered. The rudder,
which had been torn off by the ice, they were not able to find. By the
24th of May, they had labored so hard in clearing the vessel, that
they came to a cask, and could perceive that there was some water in
the hold. They pierced the cask, and found it full of good beer; which
was a cause of great joy to them.

Their next object was to dig through the ice on the outside of the
vessel, to the holes that had been cut for the purpose of sinking her.
They succeeded in this operation; and, through the lowest of these, a
considerable quantity of water flowed out. The holes were then
prevented from admitting any more water, by having strong boards
nailed on the outside. Five days afterwards the weather became much
warmer than it had been. The water in the hold of the vessel tended to
thaw the ice; and, by means of pumps, it was gradually cleared.
Several butts of beer, one of cider, and another of wine, were found
perfectly sound and good; as well as many barrels of salt beef and
pork. A considerable store of shoes and clothing were now also found.
These, when dried, were peculiarly acceptable. But it was a subject of
sincere rejoicing, that, on examination of the vessel, no defect could
be perceived in her; and sanguine hopes began to be entertained that
she might still prove capable of performing the remainder of the
voyage. Not long after this, the rudder was discovered and got up from
beneath the ice.

The carpenter now died. He had been a man beloved by the whole crew,
and, with the most exemplary patience, had endured a long illness, in
the course of which, with great exertion, he had completed all the
most difficult parts of the pinnace. Thus, although he was deeply
lamented by his comrades, the loss of him was not so severely felt as
it might otherwise have been. At this time nearly the whole crew were
disabled, by illness, from working; nor did any of them recover until
after the commencement of the warm weather.

From the elevated parts of the land, the open water was first seen on
the 19th of June. Four days afterwards the provisions and other
articles that were on shore, were carried on board. A cross was next
erected; the king’s and queen’s pictures were tied to the top of it;
and the island was named Charlton Island. The rigging of the ship was
now set. On the 13th, the sea was clear of ice; and on the 2d of July,
after the captain and his crew had all devoutly paid thanksgiving to
the Almighty for their providential deliverance, they weighed anchor,
and proceeded on their voyage.

Still, however, though in the open sea, they suffered great
inconvenience from the beating of the floating ice against the ship.
On the 22d of July, they again passed Cape Henrietta Maria. The ship
had now become so leaky, that, for some time, it was found difficult
to keep her clear of water by the pumps. After almost incredible
exertions, they made their way northward, according to their estimate,
as far as 69 deg. 35 min., when at length they came to an impenetrable
mass of ice. It was the opinion of the whole crew, that in the present
condition of the ship, the autumn now fast approaching, it would not
only be imprudent, but wholly impracticable, to make any further
attempt to discover the hoped-for passage of the sea to the
north-west. The captain, therefore, with a sorrowful heart, consented
to relinquish his object; and, on the 26th of August, determined on
returing to England. In his passage homeward, the vessel encountered
many difficulties from contrary winds and stormy weather; but, at
length, safely arrived at the mouth of the Severn, October 22, 1632.

DAMPIER.

William Dampier was born in Somersetshire, England, in the year 1652.
He lost both his parents when very young, and was bound apprentice to
the master of a ship at Weymouth, with whom he made a voyage to France
and another to New England. In 1673, he served in the Dutch war, and
was afterwards an overseer to a plantation in Jamaica. He next visited
the bay of Campeachy as a logwood cutter, and, after once more
visiting England, engaged in a band of Buccaneers, as they called
themselves, although in reality pirates, with whom he roved on the
Peruvian coasts. He next visited Virginia, and engaged in an
expedition against the Spanish settlements in the South Seas. They
accordingly sailed in August, 1683, and, after taking several prizes
on the coasts of Peru and Chili, the party experienced various fortune
but no very signal success. Dampier, wishing to obtain some knowledge
of the northern coast of Mexico, joined the crew of a captain Swan,
who cruised in the hopes of meeting the annual royal Mannilla ship,
which, however, escaped them. Swan and Dampier were resolved to steer
for the East Indies, and they accordingly sailed to the Piscadores, to
Bouton island, to New Holland and to Nicobar, where Dampier and others
were left ashore to recover their health. Their numbers gave them
hopes of being able to navigate a canoe to Achin, in which they
succeeded, after encountering a tremendous storm, which threatened
them with unavoidable destruction. After making several trading
voyages with a Captain Weldon, Dampier entered, as a gunner, the
English factory at Bencoolen. Upon this coast he remained until 1691,
when he found means to return home, and, being in want of money, sold
his property in a curiously painted or tattooed Indian prince, who was
shown as a curiosity, and who ultimately died of the small pox at
Oxford. Dampier is next heard of as a commander, in the king’s
service, of a sloop of war of twelve guns and fifty men, probably
fitted out for a voyage of discovery. After experiencing a variety of
adventures with a discontented crew, this vessel foundered off the
Isle of Ascension, his men with difficulty reaching land. They were
released from this island by an East India ship, in which Dampier came
to England. He afterwards commanded a ship in the South Seas, and
accompanied the expedition of Captain Woodes Rogers as pilot.

[Illustration: PANAMA.]

[Illustration: CITY OF PANAMA.]

CAPTAIN WOODES ROGERS.

This voyage was undertaken chiefly by the merchants of Bristol,
England. Captain Woodes Rogers was appointed commander in chief, and
William Dampier first pilot of the expedition. They sailed from
Kingroad, Bristol, on the 1st of August, 1708, their force consisting
of the Duke, a ship of three hundred tons burden, thirty guns, and one
hundred and seventy men, commanded by Rogers; and the Duchess of two
hundred and seventy tons, twenty-six guns, and one hundred and
fifty-one men, under the command of captain Courtney. They entered the
harbor of Cork on the 6th of August, where they enlisted a number of
seamen in the room of about forty fellows who had run away. They set
sail on the 1st of September, with a very mixed crew, and on the
morning of the 10th discovered a sail, to which they immediately gave
chase. On coming up with her she proved to be a Swedish ship, and was
permitted to proceed unmolested on her way. During the time the ship
was in custody, a design had been privately formed on board the Duke,
by four inferior officers, to make a prize of her; and when they found
she was given up, they began to mutiny; but the boatsman, being
displaced, and, with ten others, put in irons, and a severe whipping
given to some of the leaders of the disturbance, all was quiet again.
On the 14th, however, some of the ship’s company, headed by a daring
fellow, came up to captain Rogers at the steerage-door, and demanded
the boatswain out of irons. The captain gave them good words, and
having taken the ringleader, as if to speak with him on the
quarter-deck, had him suddenly seized by the help of the officers, and
lashed by one of his own followers. On the 16th the captain released
the prisoners from irons on their acknowledging their sorrow for what
they had done.

On the 17th, gained sight of the peak of Teneriffe, and the next day
took a Spanish bark of twenty-five tons. On the 25th of September
passed the tropic, when about sixty of the crew, who had never been
this course before, were ducked three times, by hoisting them up
halfway the main-yard, with a rope to which they were made fast, and
sousing them into the water. After visiting the Cape de Verd islands,
where they took in water and provisions, the ships again set sail on
the 8th of October, in the evening. On the 14th, they came within
sight of Brazil, and soon after came to anchor before the island of
Grande, in eleven fathoms water. While they lay here another quarrel
arose on board the Duchess, and eight of the ringleaders were put in
irons. On the 25th, two men deserted and made their escape into the
woods; but, in the night, were so terrified by the noise made by the
baboons and monkeys, that they ran back, plunged into the water, and
prayed to be taken on board again.

The ships sailed out of the bay of Grande on the first of December,
steering for Juan Fernandez, and on the 5th of January, encountered a
violent storm, which drove such a quantity of water into the Duchess
that they expected she would sink every moment. As the men were going
to supper about nine o’clock at night, she shipped a sea at the poop,
which beat in the bulkhead and all the cabin windows. On deck the yawl
was staved in pieces and one or two of the men severely hurt. On the
17th, took an observation, by which they found they had got round Cape
Horn and were to the northward of Cape Victoria. About this time the
scurvy began to make great havoc among the crews. They now bore away
for the island of Juan Fernandez, which appeared in sight on the last
day of January. On going on shore here they discovered a man clothed
in goat-skins, whose name was Alexander Selkirk. They remained at this
island till the 14th of February, having fully refreshed themselves,
when they weighed anchor, with a fair gale at south-east.

After taking a number of valuable prizes, on the 23d of April, captain
Rogers with some of his men made a descent in boats and barks upon the
town of Guyaquil, which they took with but little resistance and
plundered of great quantities of money, jewels, and provisions. He
then marched out of the town, and returned on board his own ship,
where he was heartily greeted by those of his people whom he had left
behind. They afterwards obtained a considerable sum as a ransom for
the town, and bore away for the Gallapagos islands, with a strong gale
at S. S. W.; discovered land on the 17th of May, but found it barren
and destitute of water. Continuing on their voyage, they took several
rich prizes, visited Gorgona and the Gallapagos, and sailing for the
East Indies arrived at the islands of Serpana and Guam. They left the
latter place on the 21st of March, and on the 25th of May, made
Bouton. They sailed from this island on the 8th of June, and on the
23d of July, they hove down upon Horn Island to careen their vessels.
Having supplied themselves with such necessaries as they wanted, they
left Batavia on the 12th of October, and sailed for the Cape of Good
Hope.

They came to anchor in the Cape harbor, on the 28th of December. The
English saluted the Dutch fort with nine guns: which compliment was
returned with seven. At this place they waited for the convoy of
the Dutch fleet till April, on the 5th of which month the Dutch
admiral hoisted a blue flag, and loosed his fore-top-sail, as a signal
to unmoor; and the next day the whole fleet sailed with a fresh breze
at S. S. E. On the 23d of July they arrived in the Texel, and sailing
hence with seven prizes came to the moorings in the Downs on the 2d of
October, 1711.

CAPTAIN JOHN CLIPPERTON.

About the beginning of the year 1718, some English merchants,
foreseeing war between England and Spain, resolved to fit out two
ships for the South Seas. Two ships were accordingly provided, one
called the Success, the other the Speedwell. The command of the former
was given to captain Clipperton, and captain Shelvock was appointed to
command the latter. They sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of February
1719, with a fair wind; but the whole stock of wine, brandy and other
liquors, for the use of both ships, was still on board the Speedwell.
On the 15th, had squally weather with rain; in the evening, unbent the
best and small bowers in the Success, stowed their anchors, and found
themselves often obliged to shorten sail for the Speedwell. Captain
Shelvock came this day under the lee of the Success, and complained to
Clipperton of the crankness of his ship, which proceeded from having
too much weight aloft; and, therefore, desired him to send for his
wine and brandy, which would give him an opportunity of striking down
some of his guns into the hold. This was never done.

About ten o’clock at night, on the 19th, there arose a fresh breeze,
so as to oblige both ships to take in their topsails. The gale
increasing, the Success made a signal for the Speedwell to bring to,
and by seven o’clock both ships were under bare poles, nor able to
bear a rag of canvass during the night. On the 20th, the storm abated,
when Clipperton made sail, steering S. by E., whereas Shelvock stood
away to the N. W., so that from this day they never saw each other
till they met by accident in the South Seas.

The Canaries being the first place appointed for a rendezvous,
Clipperton sailed thither with such expedition as to arrive on the 5th
of March. After waiting ten days he determined to continue his voyage,
lest he should miss his consort at the next place of rendezvous, which
was the Cape de Verd Islands. On the 21st, they saw St. Vincent, and
next morning anchored in the bay. They remained here ten days, but not
meeting with their consort, proceeded on their voyage.

On the 29th of May, found themselves off the north point of the
entrance of the straits of Magellan, and the next day entered the
straits. They arrived in the South Seas on the 18th of August, and on
the 7th of September cast anchor off the island of Juan Fernandez.
They left this island on the 8th of October, leaving behind two
deserters whom they had not been able to find. After taking a number
of valuable prizes; the Success bore away for the Gallapagos, in order
to refresh; and anchored in York Road on the 9th of January 1720. On
the 11th of August anchored with a prize they had taken, at the island
of Lobos de la Mar. While here a conspiracy among the crew was
discovered and punished.

On the 1st of November, sailed for the Bay of Conception; and in the
passage took a ship, laden with tobacco, sugar and cloth. They made
the Bay on the 6th in the afternoon, where they saw three men-of-war
lying, with their topsails loose, who no sooner discovered them than
they cut their cables, and stood in chase. At this time Captain
Clipperton had one prize with him, which, as well as the Success,
hauled close upon a wind; on which the best sailor among the Spanish
men-of-war, gave chase to the prize, which she soon came up with and
took. The other ships crowded all the sail they could for some time,
till the largest, having her mizen-top-mast carried away, fired a gun,
tacked, and stood in for the shore, which gave the Success an
opportunity of making her escape. In the Spanish prize Clipperton lost
his third lieutenant, and twelve of his men.

They continued cruising to the northward, and on the 4th of December
found themselves very near the Gallapagos. On the 17th saw the island
of Cocos, and most of the crew went on shore. On the 19th of January,
1721, sailed from this place, and on the 25th arrived on the coast of
Mexico, where, discovering a sail, they sent their pinnace to give
chase, to whom he struck. On the return of the pinnace they had the
surprising account that this was a Spanish ship called the Jesu Maria,
now commanded by Captain Shelvock, who had lost his ship and most of
his men, and taken this prize. These ships again parted, and on the
31st of May, Clipperton anchored in the road of Guam. On the 5th of
July entered the port of Amoy, where the crew demanded that the prize
money should be shared. Clipperton not complying, they applied to the
chief mandarin of the place, requesting that he would do them justice
against the captain. Clipperton was therefore summoned before him; and
on the mandarin’s demanding a reason why he refused to comply with the
desires of the crew, he produced the articles, by which it appeared
that the prize-money was not to be shared till their return to London.
The mandarin decided that the shares should be settled, and this
distribution was accordingly made on the 16th of September; £7,000
being set aside as belonging to the owners. This sum was immediately
put on board a Portuguese East Indiaman, which ship was afterwards
burnt, and the greater part of the money lost.

Clipperton afterwards took passage for England in a Dutch ship, and
arrived there bankrupt in health and fortune, after a long and
disastrous voyage.

COMMODORE ANSON.

The expedition under Commodore Anson was fitted out by the English
government in the year 1740, to attack the Spanish settlements in
America. The squadron consisted of six vessels of war, and two
victuallers. These were the

     Ships.        Commanders.     Guns.    Men.
   Centurion      George Anson      60      400
   Gloucester     Richard Norris    50      300
   Severn         Edward Legge      50      300
   Pearl          Matt. Mitchell    40      250
   Wager          Dandy Kidd        28      160
   Trial Sloop    John Murray        8      100

On the 18th of September, 1740, the squadron weighed from St. Helens,
and reached Madeira the 25th of October. Having sailed hence, they
discovered the land of Brazil, on the 16th of December, and on the
evening of the 19th cast anchor at the island of St. Catherines.
Having repaired their vessels, they quitted this place on the 18th of
January, and on the same day of the following month came to anchor in
the Bay of St. Julian. The squadron again stood to sea on the 28th of
February, when the Gloucester not being able to purchase her anchor,
was obliged to cut her cable, and leave her best bower behind. Having
reached the southern extremity of the straits of Le Maire, the wind
shifted and blew in violent squalls, and the tide turned furiously
against them, driving to the eastward with such rapidity, that the two
sternmost vessels, the Wager and the Anna Pink, with the utmost
difficulty escaped being dashed in pieces on the shore of Staten
Island.

[Illustration: CITY OF HAVANA.]

[Illustration: SCENE AT HAVANA.]

For above three months they struggled with severe gales and terrific
waves, and on the 1st of April, the weather, after having been a
little more moderate, returned to its former violence; the sky looked
dark and gloomy, and the wind began to freshen and blow in squalls;
and there were all the appearances of an approaching tempest.
Accordingly, on the 3d, there came on a storm, which exceeded in
violence and duration all they had hitherto encountered. On the 14th
in the morning the weather clearing up a little and the moon shining
out on a sudden, the Anna Pink made a signal for seeing land right
a-head; and it being then only two miles distant, they were under
great apprehensions of running on shore; and had not the wind suddenly
shifted, or the moon shone out, every ship must have perished. They
found this land, to their disappointment, to be Cape Noir, though they
imagined they were ten degrees more to the west. On the evening of the
24th of April, the wind increased to a prodigious storm, and, about
midnight, the weather became so thick that the whole squadron
separated, nor met again till they reached the island of Juan
Fernandez. To add to their misfortunes, the scurvy began to make such
havoc, that on board the Centurion only, it carried off forty-three
men in the month of April, and twice that number in May.

On the 22d of May the Centurion encountered the severest storm it had
yet experienced. Almost all the sails were split; the rigging was
destroyed, and a mountainous wave breaking over them on the starboard
quarter, gave the vessel such a shock, that several of the shrouds
were broke, and the ballast and stores so strangely shifted, that she
lay on her larboard side. The wind at length abating a little, they
began to exert themselves to stirrup the shrouds, reeve new lanyards,
and mend the sails; during which they ran great risk of being driven
on the island of Chiloe. After many difficulties they at length
reached the island of Juan Fernandez, in a most desponding condition.
Here many of the crew died of weariness and disease.

A few days after the Centurion had arrived, the Trial Sloop appeared
in sight, and on the 21st of June the Gloucester was discovered to
leeward. The Anna Pink arrived about the middle of August, which, with
the Trial and Gloucester, mentioned above, were the only vessels that
ever joined the squadron; for the Severn and Pearl, having parted from
the commodore off Cape Horn, with difficulty reached Brazil, whence
they made the best of their way back to Europe, while the Wager was
wrecked on the coast. The Anna Pink being judged unlit for service,
was taken for the use of the squadron, and her men were sent on board
the Gloucester.

About eleven in the morning of the 8th of September, they discovered a
sail; when the Centurion, being in the greatest forwardness, made
after her as fast as possible. Night coming on they lost sight of the
chase. About three in the morning of the 12th, a brisk gale springing
up at W. S. W. obliged them to lie upon a N. W. tack, which at break
of day, brought them within sight of a sail, at about five leagues
distant. She appeared to be a large vessel, and upon hoisting Spanish
colors, and bearing towards the Centurion, the commodore ordered
everything ready for an engagement; but upon coming nearer, she
appeared to be a merchantman, without a single tier of guns, and had
mistaken the Centurion for her consort. She soon surrendered, and was
found to be a valuable prize.

It appearing from letters on board the prize, that several other
merchantmen were at sea, between Callao and Valparaiso, the commodore
sent the Trial sloop, to cruise off the latter port; and ordered the
Gloucester to cruise off the island of Paita, till she should be
joined by the Centurion. The Centurion and her prize weighing from the
bay of Juan Fernandez, on the 19th of September, took her course to
the eastward, proposing to join the Trial off Valparaiso.

On the 24th, in the evening, they came up with the latter, having
taken a prize of six hundred tons burden, laden with a rich cargo. On
the 27th, the captain of the Trial came on board the Centurion,
bringing with him an instrument, subscribed by himself and all his
officers, setting forth that the vessel was so leaky and defective,
that it was at the hazard of their lives they staid on board; upon
which, the commodore having ordered the crew and every thing of value
to be put on board the prize, the Trial was scuttled and sunk. It was
now resolved to join the Gloucester off Paita. With this view they
stood to the northward, and, on the 10th of November discovered a
sail, which Lieutenant Brett was ordered to chase, with the Trial’s
pinnace and barge. They found her to be a Spanish vessel of two
hundred and seventy tons burden. From the prisoners they learned that,
a few days before, a vessel had entered Paita, the master of which
told the governor he had been chased by a very large ship, which he
imagined to be one of the English squadron, and that the governor had
immediately sent an express to Lima, to carry the news to the viceroy,
while the royal officer residing at Paita had been busily employed in
removing both the king’s treasure and his own to Piuza, a town
fourteen leagues within land. It was at once conjectured that the ship
which had chased the vessel into Paita was the Gloucester; and, as
they were now discovered, and the coast would soon be alarmed, so as
to prevent cruising to any advantage, the commodore resolved to
endeavor to surprise the place that very night.

When the ships were within five leagues of Paita, about ten o’clock at
night, Lieutenant Brett, with the boats under his command, put off,
and arrived without being discovered, at the mouth of the bay; though
he had no sooner entered it, than some of the people on board a vessel
riding at anchor there, perceived him, and immediately getting into
their boat, rowed towards the shore, crying out ‘the English, the
English dogs,’ etc., by which the town was alarmed and the attack
discovered. The town was, however, taken in less than a quarter of an
hour from the first landing of the boats; with the loss of one man
killed and two wounded.

They weighed anchor from the coast of Paita on the 16th of November,
the squadron being increased to six sail by the prizes. On the morning
of the 18th, they discovered the Gloucester with a small vessel in
tow, which joined them about three in the afternoon, when they learned
that captain Mitchell had taken two prizes, one of which had a cargo
consisting of wine, brandy and olives, and about seven thousand pounds
in specie; and the other was a launch, the people on board which, when
taken, were eating their dinner from silver dishes. Notwithstanding
this circumstance, the prisoners alleged that they were very poor:
having nothing on board, but cotton made up in jars, which, being
removed on board the Gloucester, were examined, when the whole
appeared to be an extraordinary piece of false package; there being
concealed among the cotton, doubloons and dollars, to the amount of
twelve thousand pounds.

The cargo and crews of the several vessels were afterwards divided
between the Centurion and Gloucester. Quitting the coast of America,
they stood for China, the 6th of May, 1742. The Gloucester, which had
become decayed, was cleared of every thing by the 15th of August, and
then set on fire. On the 27th they arrived at the island of Tinian,
where they remained some time. On the night of the 22d of September,
when it was excessively dark, the wind blew from the eastward with
such fury, that those on board despaired of riding out the storm. At
this time Mr. Anson was ill of the scurvy, and most of the hands were
on shore, and all the hopes of safety of those on board seemed to
depend on immediately putting to sea; all communication between the
ship and the island being destroyed.

About one o’clock a strong gust, attended with rain and lightning,
drove them to sea, where, being unprepared to struggle with the fury
of winds and waves, they expected each moment to be their last. When
at daybreak, it was perceived by those on shore that the ship was
missing, they concluded her lost, and many of them begged the
commodore to send the boat round the island to look for the wreck. In
the midst of their gloomy reflections, the commodore formed a plan for
extricating them from their present situation; which was by hauling
the Spanish barque on shore, sawing her asunder, and lengthening her
twelve feet; which would enlarge her to near forty tons burden, and
enable her to carry them all to China.

But a discouraging circumstance now occurred, which was, that they had
neither compass nor quadrant on the island. At length, on rummaging a
chest belonging to the Spanish bark, they found a small compass, which
though not much superior to those made for the amusement of
school-boys, was to them of the utmost importance.

When this obstacle was removed, and all things ready for sailing, it
happened on the afternoon of the 11th of October, that one of the
Gloucester’s men being upon a hill, saw the Centurion at a distance.
She was soon visible to all, and the next day cast anchor in the road.
On the 14th, a sudden gust of wind drove her to sea a second time, but
in about five days, they returned again to anchor. On the 20th of
October, they set fire to the bark and proa, hoisted in their boats,
and got under sail, steering away towards the south end of the island
of Macao.

About midnight, on the 5th of November, they made the mainland of
China, and on the morning of the 9th, a Chinese pilot came on board,
and told them that he would carry the ship into Macao for thirty
dollars, which being paid him they proceeded, and on the 12th entered
the harbor of Macao.

On the 6th of April the Centurion again stood out to sea. On the last
day of May they came in sight of Cape Espiritu Santo, where they
continued to cruize till the 20th of June, when about sunrise the
great Manilla ship came in sight, having the standard of Spain flying
at the top-gallant-mast head, and to the commodore’s surprise, bore
down upon him. The engagement soon began, and lasted an hour and a
half, when the galleon struck to the Centurion, after having
sixty-seven men killed and eighty-four wounded. The Centurion had only
two men killed and seventeen wounded. The prize carried five hundred
men and thirty-six guns, and her cargo was worth £400,000 sterling. It
is impossible to describe the transports on board, when, after all
their reiterated disappointments, they at length saw their wishes
accomplished. But their joy was very near being suddenly damped by a
very alarming accident; for no sooner had the galleon struck, than one
of the lieutenants coming to Mr. Anson, whispered him, that the
Centurion was dangerously on fire near the powder-room. The commodore
received this shocking intelligence without any apparent emotion, and
taking care not to alarm his people, gave the necessary orders for
extinguishing the fire, which was done, though its first appearance
threatened the ship with destruction.

On the 14th, the Centurion cast anchor off Bocca Tigris, forming the
mouth of that river: and having got under sail on the 16th of October,
1743, came to anchor in the straits of Sunda on the 3d of January, and
continued there till the 8th, taking in wood and water, when she
weighed and stood for the Cape of Good Hope, where, on the 11th of
March, she came to anchor in Table Bay. Mr. Anson continued here till
the 3d of April, 1744, when he put to sea, and on the 19th of the
month, was in sight of St. Helena, but did not touch at it.

On the 12th of June they got in sight of the Lizard, and on the
evening of the 15th, to their great joy, came safe to anchor at
Spithead. On his arrival Mr. Anson learned, that under cover of a
thick fog, he had run through a French fleet, which was at that time
cruizing in the chops of the channel.

BYRON.

In the year 1764, the Dolphin and Tamar, English ships-of-war, were
fitted out for the purpose of prosecuting discoveries in the South
Seas. Byron was commander-in-chief, and Captain Mouat commander under
him.

On the 3d of July, the commodore hoisted his broad-pendant, and they
sailed in prosecution of the voyage. On the 13th of September they
came to an anchor in the road of Rio de Janeiro, on the coast of
Brazil, when the commodore paid a visit to the governor, who received
him in state. They weighed anchor on the 16th of October, steering for
Cape Blanco, and on the 21st of November, entered the harbor of Port
Desire, and the commodore in his boat, attended by two other boats,
went to sound it. He landed, and they had a sight of four beasts, near
thirteen hands high, and in shape like a deer, which they took to be
granicoes.

[Illustration: CITY OF ADELAIDE.]

[Illustration: BALTHURST, N. S. W.]

On the 5th of December the ships got under sail, and on the 20th, ran
close in-shore to Cape Virgin Mary, and came to an anchor. The
commodore observed a number of men on horseback, riding to and fro,
opposite the ship, and waving something white, which he took to be an
ivitation 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, the whole appeared to amount to five hundred
persons, drawn up on a stony point of land that ran far into the sea.
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 one who advanced appeared to be chief, and was
over six feet in height; 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 colors. 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.

On the 21st of December they began sailing up the Strait of Magellan,
with a view to take in a stock of wood and water. On the 26th, came to
anchor at Port Famine. In this place, they found drift-wood enough to
have supplied a thousand vessels. The quantity of fish that was daily
taken was equal to the supply of both the crews: and the commodore
shot as many geese and ducks as furnished several tables besides his
own. On the 4th of January 1765, they sailed in search of Falkland’s
Islands.

On the 12th they saw land, and on the 14th a flat island, covered with
tufts of grass as large as bushes. Soon after this they entered
another harbor, to which Byron gave the name of Port Egmont. This
harbor is represented to be the finest in the world, and capacious
enough to contain the whole navy of England, in full security; there
is plenty of fresh water in every part of it, and geese, ducks,
snipes, and other edible birds, abound in such numbers, that the
sailors were tired with eating them. The commodore was once
unexpectedly attacked by a sea-lion, and extricated himself from the
impending danger with great difficulty; they had many battles with
this animal, the killing of one of which was frequently an hour’s work
for six men; one of them almost tore to pieces the commodore’s
mastiff-dog, by a single bite. The commodore took possession of the
harbor, and the adjacent islands, by the name of Falkland’s Islands.

On Sunday, January the 27th, they left Port Egmont. Next day the
commodore gave the name of Berkley’s Sound to a deep inlet between the
islands. On the 6th of February stood in for Port Desire at the mouth
of which they came to anchor, and had the pleasure of seeing the
Florida, a store-ship, which they had expected from England. On the
20th, at Port Famine, received orders to sail for England.

Having narrowly escaped the dreadful effects of a storm on the 3d of
March, at length the Dolphin was moored in a little bay opposite Cape
Quod; and the Tamar about six miles to the eastward of it. On the 28th
the Tamar narrowly escaped being dashed to pieces against the rocks,
by the parting of the cables to her best bower-anchor. The Dolphin,
therefore, stood out again into the bay, and sent her proper
assistance, after which they both anchored for the night; a night the
most dreadful they had known. The winds were so violent as perfectly
to tear up the sea, and carry it higher than the heads of the masts: a
dreadful sea rolled over them, and broke against the rocks, with a
noise as loud as thunder. Happily they did not part their cables, or
they must have been dashed in pieces against these rocks.

The ships came to anchor on the 4th of April, in a bay which had been
discovered, proposing to take in wood and water. While they were here,
several of the natives made a fire opposite the ship, on which signals
were made for them to come on board; but as they would not, the
commodore went on shore, and distributed some trifles which gave great
pleasure. Four were at length prevailed on to go on board; and the
commodore, with a view to their diversion, directed one of the
midshipmen to play on the violin, while some of the seamen danced. The
poor Indians were extravagantly delighted; and one of them to testify
his gratitude, took his canoe, and fetching some red paint, rubbed it
over the face of the musician; nor could the commodore, but with the
utmost difficulty, escape the like compliment.

They sailed from this bay on the 7th, and next day the wind blew a
hurricane. On the 9th, passed some dangerous rocks, which in
Narborough’s Voyage are called the Judges. This day a steady gale at
the southwest carried them at the rate of nine miles an hour, so that
by eight in the evening they were twenty leagues from the coast. On
the 26th, they sailed westward, and bore away for the island of
Massafuero and anchored at seven o’clock on Sunday morning.

On the 30th of April they sailed, and on the 7th of June discovered
land, being then in 14 deg. 5 min. south latitude, and 144 deg. 58
min. west longitude. The commodore steered for a small island, the
appearance of which was pleasing beyond expression. Several natives
ran along the beach, with long spears in their hands. The sailors made
every possible sign of friendship――but they retired to the woods,
dragging their canoes after them. The commodore proceeded to the other
island, and brought to, at three-quarters of a mile from the shore.
The natives again ran to the beach, armed with clubs and spears, using
threatening gestures. The commodore fired a cannon-shot over their
heads, on which they retreated to the woods. This paradise in
appearance, was named the Island of Disappointment.

Quitting these on the 8th of June, they discovered an island on the
day following, low, and covered with various kinds of trees, among
which was the cocoa-nut, and surrounded with a rock of red coral. They
now sailed to the westward, and soon discovered another island,
distant four leagues. The natives pursued them in two large double
canoes, in each of which were about thirty armed men. At this time the
boats were at a considerable way to leeward of the ships, and were
chased by the canoes; on which the commodore making a signal, the
boats turned towards the Indians, who instantly pulled down their
sails, and rowed away with great rapidity. On the 12th of June, sailed
to another island, and as they coasted along it, the natives, armed as
those of the other islands, kept even with the ship for some leagues.
This island is situated in 14 deg. 41 min. S. latitude, and 149 deg.
15 min. W. longitude; and both the islands the commodore called King
George’s Islands. The boats having returned on board, they sailed
westward the same day; and the next afternoon descried another island,
towards which they immediately sailed, and found that it was well
inhabited, and had a fine appearance of verdure; but that a violent
surf broke all along the coast. It lies in 15 deg. south latitude, and
161 deg. 53 min. west longitude, and received the name of the Prince
of Wales’ Island.

On the 24th they discovered another island, which was named the Duke
of York’s Island. A terrible sea breaks round the coast, but the place
itself had a pleasing appearance. On the 29th sailed northward, with a
view to cross the equinoctial line, and then sail for the Ladrone
Islands. On the 2d of July they discovered a low flat island,
abounding with the cocoa-nut and other trees, and affording a most
agreeable prospect. A great number of natives were seen on the beach,
many of whom, in about sixty canoes or proas, sailed, and formed a
circle round the ships; which having surveyed for a considerable time,
one of the Indians jumped out of his boat, swam to the ship, ran up
its side in a moment, sat down on the deck, and began laughing most
violently: he then ran about the ship, pilfering whatever he could lay
hands on, which was taken from him as fast as stolen. This man having
as many antic tricks as a monkey, was dressed in a jacket and
trousers, and afforded exquisite diversion. He devoured some biscuit
with great eagerness, and having played the buffoon for some time,
made prize of his new dress, by jumping over the side of the ship, and
swimming to his companions. These Indians are of a bright copper, with
regular and cheerful features, and are tall and well made. One of
them, who seemed to be one of some rank, wore a string of human teeth
round his waist. Some carried a long spear, the sides of which, for
the length of three feet, were stuck with the teeth of the shark,
which are as keen as a razor. The officers named this place Byron’s
island, in honor of the commodore. It lies in 1 deg. 18 min. S.
latitude, and 173 deg. 46 min. E. longitude. They sailed hence on the
3d of July, and on the 28th had sight of the islands Saypan, Tinian,
and Aiguigan, which lie between two and three leagues from each other.
At noon, on the 31st, anchored at the south-west end of Tinian. The
water is so wonderfully clear at this place, that, though one hundred
and forty-four feet deep, they could see the bottom. The commodore
went on shore, where he saw many huts, which had been left the
preceding year by the Spaniards. The commodore remained at Tinian till
the 30th of September, by which time the sick being tolerably well
recovered, he weighed anchor and stood to the northward.

On the 5th of November they came to an anchor off the island of
Timoan, on which Byron landed the day following. The inhabitants, who
are Malays, no sooner saw the boat approaching the shore, than many of
them came to the beach, each having a dagger by his side, a spear in
one hand, and a long knife in the other. The boat’s crew, however,
made no hesitation to land, and bartered a few handkerchiefs for a
goat, a kid, and a dozen of fowls.

Nothing worth notice happened till the 14th, when a sloop being seen
at anchor in the harbor of an island, named Pulo Toupoa, Byron having
anchored in the same harbor, and observed that the vessel hoisted
Dutch colors, sent an officer on board, who was received with great
politeness. The commodore sailed the following day, and held his
course till the 19th, when he spoke with an English snow, bound from
Bencoolen to Malacca and Bengal, in the East India Company’s service.
At this time their biscuit was filled with worms, and rotten, and
their beef and pork were unfit to eat. The master of the snow being
apprized of the circumstance, sent Byron two gallons of arrack, a
turtle, twelve fowls and a sheep. During their run hence to Prince’s
Island, in the strait of Sunda, they were so abundantly supplied with
turtle, by boats from the Java shore, that the common sailors
subsisted wholly on that fish. They staid at Prince’s Island till the
19th, when they sailed for the Cape of Good Hope. On the 13th of
February they came to anchor, and were treated with great politeness
by the governor.

They sailed on the 7th of March, and, on the 25th, crossed the
equinoctial line. About this time an accident happening to the rudder
of the Tamar, and it being impossible to make a perfect repair of it
at sea, the captain was ordered to bear away for Antigua; in
consequence of which they parted company on the 1st of April; and the
Dolphin, without meeting with any other material occurrence, came to
an anchor in the Downs, on the 9th of May, 1766, after having been
little more than twenty-two months in the circumnavigation of the
globe.

CAPT. WALLIS.

In 1766, Capt. Wallis, of London, having been appointed to command the
ship Dolphin, destined for a voyage round the world, received orders
to take under his command the Swallow sloop, and Prince Frederick
store-ship. They sailed on the 22d of August, and, on the 7th of
September, came to anchor in the road of Maderia.

On the 12th, they sailed thence, and by the 12th of November, were in
30 degrees of south latitude, when they found the weather so cold as
to have recourse to their thick jackets. On the 16th of December,
being very near Cape Virgin Mary, they saw several men riding on the
shore. The captain went ashore, and gave them combs, buttons, knives,
scissors, beads, etc., and pleased the women greatly by the
distribution of some ribbons. The tallest among these people was six
feet seven inches; but the general height was from five feet ten to
six feet. They were muscular and well made, but their hands and feet
very small, in proportion to the rest of their bodies. The captain
took eight of them into the boats: when they came into the ship, they
expressed no surprise at the novelties which they beheld, till a
looking-glass being observed, they acted many antic gestures before
it. The marines being exercised before them, they were terrified at
the firing of the muskets, and one of them falling down, shut his
eyes, and lay without motion, as if to intimate that he knew the
destructive nature of these weapons.

On the 21st, they turned into the Strait of Magellan, and on the 26th,
anchored in Port Famine Bay; and the sick were sent on shore. On the
28th, the empty water-casks were landed. When they arrived here, many
of the people were very sick with the scurvy; but, by the plentiful
use of vegetables, and bathing in the sea, they all recovered in a
short time.

They sailed on the 18th, and on the 3d of February came to anchor in
York Road. The next day, Captain Wallis, with a party, went on shore
near Bachelor’s River. There is a cataract near this river, the noise
of which is tremendous, as it falls more than four hundred yards,
partly over a very steep descent, and partly in a perpendicular line.
On the 1st of March sailed again, and anchored in a place called
Swallow harbor, whence they sailed the next morning; and, on the
following day, the Swallow, being driven among breakers, made signals
of distress; but was happily relieved by a breeze from the shore. On
the 10th of April the two ships sailed in company; and, on the 11th,
lost sight of each other, and did not meet again during the whole
voyage.

This day the Dolphin cleared the Strait of Magellan, in which she had
labored with innumerable difficulties, and escaped most imminent
dangers, in a passage of almost four months, viz: from December the
17th, 1776, to the 11th of April following. The Spaniards, it seems,
built a town here in 1581, which they named Phillipville, and left in
it a colony of four hundred persons. They were all starved to death
except twenty-four; and the place was called Port Famine, from the
melancholy fate of these unfortunate men.

The long wished for relief was now fast approaching, for on Saturday,
the 6th, the man at the mast-head cried, ‘Land in the west-north-west.’
As no anchorage was to be found, the captain steered for the other
island, giving the name of Whitsun Island to this, because it was
discovered on the eve of Whitsunday. Having approached the second, the
lieutenant was sent on shore, with two boats, to take possession of
the island and to call it Queen Charlotte’s Island. The boats returned
loaded with cocoa-nuts and scurvy-grass, after having found two wells
of excellent water. Provisions for a week were now allotted for an
officer and twenty men, who were left on shore to take in water; the
sick were landed for the benefit of the air; and a number of hands
were appointed to climb the cocoa-trees, and gather the nuts.

An adjoining island, lying in nineteen degrees twenty minutes south
latitude, and one hundred thirty-eight degrees thirty minutes west
longitude, received the name of Egmont Island. On the 11th, they
observed about sixteen persons on an island, which was called
Gloucester Island. This day they likewise discovered another, which
was called Cumberland Island; and on the day following, a third, which
received the name of Prince William Henry’s Island. On the 17th, again
discovered land, but could find no place in which the ship might
anchor. This was named Osnaburgh Island, and having soon discovered
high land, they came to anchor because the weather was foggy; but it
no sooner cleared away, than they found the ship encompassed by
hundreds of people. They sailed along the shore, while the canoes made
towards the land. On the 21st, the ship came to anchor.

The boats having been sent to sound along the coast, were followed by
large double canoes, three of which ran at the cutter, staved in her
quarter, and otherwise damaged her; the Indians, at the same time,
armed with clubs, endeavoring to board her. The crew now fired; and
wounding one man dangerously, and killing another, they both fell into
the sea. The ship made sail the following day, and was piloted round a
reef, into a harbor, where she was moored. On the 24th, she sailed
further up the harbor, followed by many canoes. In the evening, a
number of very large canoes advanced, laden with stones; on which the
captain ordered the strictest watch to be kept. Soon after a large
canoe advanced, in which was an awning, on the top of which sat one of
the natives, holding some yellow and red feathers in his hand. He
delivered the feathers; and, while a present was preparing, he put
back from the ship, and threw the branch of a cocoa-nut tree in the
air. This appeared the signal for an onset, for the canoes,
approaching the ship, threw volleys of stones into every part of her.
On this two guns, loaded with small shot, were fired, and the people
on guard discharged their muskets. The number of Indians now round the
ships was full two thousand; and though they were at first
disconcerted, they soon recovered their spirits, and renewed the
attack. Thousands were observed on shore, embarking as fast as the
canoes could bring them off; orders were therefore given for firing
the cannon, some of which were brought to bear upon the shore. The
scattered canoes soon got together again, and threw stones of two
pounds weight from slings by which a number of seamen were wounded. At
this time several canoes approached the bow of the ship, in one of
which was an Indian, who appeared to have an authority over the rest;
a gun was therefore leveled at his canoe, the shot of which split it
in two pieces, which put an end to the contest; the canoes rowed off
with the utmost speed, and the people on shore ran and concealed
themselves behind the hills. Next day a lieutenant was despatched,
with all the boats manned and armed, and having hoisted a pennant on a
staff, he took possession of the place by the name of King George the
Third’s Island.

Three days after this, the gunner conducted to the ship a lady of a
portly figure and agreeable face, whose age seemed to be upwards of
forty. Her whole behavior indicated the woman of superior rank. The
captain presented her with a looking-glass and some toys, and gave her
a handsome blue mantle, which he tied round her with ribbands. Having
intimated that she would be glad to see the Captain on shore, on
Sunday, the 12th, he landed, and was met by his fair friend, who was
attended by a numerous retinue. As they advanced, great numbers of
Indians crowded to meet them. Many advanced to meet her, whom she
caused to kiss the captain’s hand, while she signified that they were
related to her. Her house was above three hundred and twenty feet in
length, and about forty in breadth. The captain, lieutenant, and
purser, who had been ill, being seated, the lady helped four of her
female attendants to pull of their coats, shoes and stockings; which
being performed, the girls smoothed down the skin, and rubbed it
lightly with their hands for more than half an hour; and the gentleman
received great benefit from the operation. Orders had been given that
the captain should be carried; but as he chose to walk, she took hold
of his arm, and when they came near any wet or dirty place, she lifted
him over, with as much ease as a man would a child. On the 15th, a
large party in all the boats rowed round the island. The island was
found to be every where very pleasant, and to abound with various
necessaries of life. On the 17th, Captain Wallis received another
visit from the lady whom he called his queen. On the 21st, she
repeated the visit, and presented him with some hogs. The captain
having sent a party on shore on the 25th, to examine the country
minutely, caused a tent to be erected to observe an eclipse of the
sun, and when it was ended, took his telescope to the queen’s house to
show her the use of it; and her surprise is not to be expressed, on
beholding several objects which she was very familiar with, but which
were too distant to be seen by the naked eye. She made signs to be
informed if he held his resolution as to the time of his departure,
and being answered in the affirmative, her tears witnessed the
agitation of her mind. The captain presented her with several articles
of use and ornament, which she received in silent sorrow. After some
time a breeze springing up, the queen and her attendants took their
final leave, with many tears.

The place where the ship had lain was called Port Royal Harbor, and is
situated in 17 degrees 30 minutes south latitude, and 150 degrees west
longitude. The Dolphin sailed from Otaheite on the 27th of July, 1767,
and passed the Duke of York’s Island. On the 28th, they discovered
land, which was called Sir Charles Saunder’s Island. On the 30th again
made land, which received the name of Lord How’s Island, on which
smoke was seen, but no inhabitants. Their next discovery was some
dangerous shoals, to which Captain Wallis gave the name of the Scilla
Islands. They now steered westward till the 13th of August, when they
saw two small islands, one of which was named Keppel’s Isle, and the
other Boscawen’s Island. On the 16th they again discovered land, to
which the officers gave the name of Wallis’ Island.

On the 18th of September they discovered the island of Saypan, and
soon afterwards that of Tinian, off which they anchored on the day
following. Tents were erected for the sick, who were sent on shore
with all expedition. By the 15th of October the fruit and water were
carried on board, and all the sick being recovered, on the next day
they left the bay, and sailed to the west.

On the 3d of November they discovered three islands, which were named
Sandy Isle, Small Key, and Long Island; which islands are in 19
degrees 20 minutes north latitude, and 247 degrees 20 minutes west
longitude. They now altered their course, and, on the 13th, saw the
island of Timoun, Aros, and Pesang. On the 16th they crossed the
equinoctial line, and came again into south latitude. The next day
they saw the islands of Pulo Totè, and Pulo Weste, and the Seven
Islands. On the 22d saw the coast of Sumatra; and came to an anchor in
the road of Batavia, on the 30th of November, 1767. From this place
they sailed on the 8th of December, without losing a single man, and
having only two on the sick list.

On the 24th of January they encountered a dreadful storm, which tore
the sails to pieces, broke a rudder-chain, and carried several of the
booms overboard; yet during this storm they observed a number of birds
and butterflies. On the 30th they saw land; and came to anchor in
Table Bay, at the Cape of Good Hope, on the 4th of February. Sailed on
the 17th of March, anchored in the bay of St. Helena. On the 28th
crossed the equinoctial line, and on the 24th of next month saw the
Cape of Pico.

No material incident happened from this time to the end of the voyage;
and on the 20th of May, 1768, the Dolphin came to anchor in the Downs.

DE BOUGAINVILLE.

A settlement having been commenced by the French on Falkland’s
Islands, in the month of February, 1764, the Spaniards demanded them
as an appendage to the continent of South America; and France having
allowed the propriety of the demand, Mons. de Bougainville was ordered
to yield possession of the islands to the Spaniards.

On the 5th of December he sailed from the harbor of Brest, in the
frigate La Boudeuse, having on board the Prince of Nassau Seighen,
three gentlemen who went as volunteers, eleven officers in commission,
and warrant-officers, seamen, soldiers, servants and boys to the
number of two hundred. On the evening of the 29th of January, they had
sight of Rio-de-la-Plata, and on the morning of the 31st came to
anchor in the Bay of Montevideo, where the two Spanish ships, which
were to take possession of Falkland Islands, had been at anchor for
some weeks. They sailed with these ships on the 28th of February,
1767; and on the 1st of April Bougainville, in the name of the French
king, surrendered the islands to Don Puente, the Spanish governor, who
received them for his most Catholic majesty, with the ceremony of
hoisting the Spanish colors, and the firing of guns from the ships and
on shore.

Falkland Islands lie in about 52 degrees south latitude, and 60
degrees west longitude. From the entrance of the Straits of Magellan,
and from the coast of Patagonia, their distance is about 250 miles.
The harbors are large, and well defended by small islands most happily
disposed; and even the smallest vessels may ride in safety in the
creeks, while fresh water is easily to be obtained. After waiting at
these islands till the 2d of June, 1767, in expectation of the Etoile
store-ship from Europe, Bougainville steered for Rio Janeiro, at which
place he had appointed the Etoile to join him. They had fine weather
from the 2d to the 20th of June, on which day they had sight of the
mountains on the main land of Brazil, and entered Rio Janeiro the day
following. At the same time a canoe was despatched from the captain of
the Etoile, with information of the safe arrival of that vessel, which
now lay in the port; and on the 14th of July, both vessels sailed, and
on the 31st came to anchor in the Bay of Montevideo. As it was
necessary that Bougainville should remain in his present station till
the equinox was passed, his first care was to build a hospital for the
sick, and to take lodgings at Montevideo.

On the 14th of November, 1767, they sailed from Montevideo, with a
fine gale of wind at north. On the 16th, and the five following days,
the sea ran high, and the wind was contrary. The 2d of December they
had sight of Cape Virgins, with a fair wind. They now saw a number of
albatrosses and petrels, the last of which are said to be a sign of
bad weather whenever they are seen. They made their best efforts to
reach the entrance of the Straits of Magellan; and Bougainville was
seven weeks and three days in passing through it, the whole length of
which, from Cape Virgin Mary to Cape Pillar, he computes at about 340
miles.

On the 22d of March, land was discovered, and when they had coasted
one of the islands for about two miles, they had sight of three men,
who advanced hastily towards the shore. They at first imagined that
these were part of the crew of some European ship which had been
wrecked on the coast, but discovered their conjecture ill-founded, for
the people retired to the woods, from which, in a short time, issued a
number of them, supposed to be near twenty, with long staves in their
hands, which they held up with an air of defiance. This done, they
retreated to the woods. These islanders were of a copper complexion
and very tall.

During the night between the 22d and 23d they had much rain,
accompanied with violent thunder, while the wind blew almost a
tempest. At day-break land was discovered, which was called Harp
Island, and in the evening a cluster of islands, eleven of which were
seen, received the name of the Dangerous Archipelago. A steep
mountain, which appeared to be encompassed by the sea, was discovered
on the 2d of April, and received the name of Boudoir, or Boudeuse
Peak, from Bougainville’s ship. Bearing to the northward of this peak
they had sight of land, which extended farther than the eye could
reach.

As Bougainville coasted the island, he was charmed with the appearance
of a noble cascade, which, falling immediately from the summit of a
mountain into the sea, produced a most elegant effect. On the shores
very near to the fall of this cascade, was a little town, and the
coast appeared to be free from breakers. It was the wish of our
adventurers to have cast their anchor within view of such an
enchanting prospect; but, after repeated soundings, they found that
the bottom consisted only of rocks, and they were, therefore, under a
necessity of seeking another anchoring place, where the ships were
safely moored.

[Illustration: VALPARAISO.]

[Illustration: IRON BRIDGE AT JAMAICA.]

They remained at Otaheite until the 16th of April, when they departed,
and in the beginning of May three islands were discovered. On the
following day another island was seen to the westward of the ship’s
course. To the islands the commodore gave the general name of the
Archipelago of the Navigators. On the morning of the 11th, another
island was discovered, which received the name of the Forlorn Hope.

The ships now steered a westerly course, and early on the morning of
the 22d two islands were discovered, one of which received the name
Aurora, from the early hour on which it was first seen, and the other
that of Whitsuntide Isle, from the day which gave birth to it being so
named. In the afternoon, mountainous lands, at thirty miles distance,
were seen, appearing, as it were, over and beyond the Island of
Aurora. On the 23d it was discovered that this was a separate island,
the appearance being lofty, its descent steep, and the whole clothed
with trees. From this time to the 27th, they passed many islands, on
one of which they observed a fine plantation of trees, between which
there were regular walks, resembling those of an European garden. They
now quitted this great cluster of islands, which received the general
name of Archipelago of the great Cyclades, which, it is conjectured,
occupies no less than three degrees of latitude, and five of
longitude.

From the 14th to the 18th of June they discovered a number of islands.
On July the 2d a cape was discovered, which was called Cape l’Averdi,
on which were mountains of an astonishing height. Two more islands
were seen on the 6th, and, as the wood and water were expended, and
disease reigning aboard, the commodore resolved to land here, and on
the following afternoon the ships came to anchor.

In the afternoon of the 24th a favorable breeze enabled the ships to
get out to sea. On the 31st a number of Indian boats attacked the
Etoile with a volley of stones and arrows; but a single discharge of
the musketry got rid of these troublesome companions. On the 4th of
August two islands were seen. On the 5th a third island was seen, and
then the northern point of New Britain which lies only forty-one
minutes south of the land. On the 7th a flat island was seen, covered
with trees, abounding with cocoa-nuts. Fishing-boats in multitudes
surrounding the island; but the fisherman took no notice of the ships.
This received the name of the Island of Anchorets. From this time till
the end of the month innumerable small islands were observed every
day.

Early in the morning of the 31st our voyagers had sight of the island
of Ceram, which runs in a parallel east and west, abounds in lofty
mountains, and is partly cleared, and partly in its original state. At
midnight a number of fires attracted their attention to the island of
Boero, where there is a Dutch factory, at the entrance of the Gulf of
Cagei, which the French had sight of at day-break. Their joy on this
occasion is not to be expressed, for at this time not half of the
seamen were able to perform any duty, and the scurvy had raged so
violently, that no man on board was perfectly clear of it.

They sailed on the 7th September and on the 13th the ships were
surrounded with Indian boats, bringing parroquets, cockatoos, fowls,
eggs, and bananas, which the natives sold for Dutch money, or
exchanged for knives. By day-light on the 19th they were within about
a league of the Coast of Celibes, which in this part is described as
one of the finest countries in the world. On the morning of the 26th
the coast of Java appeared with the rising sun. Having come to an
anchor for the night, the ships sailed early in the morning of the
27th and on the next day came to anchor in the port of Batavia.

The ships sailed thence on the 16th of October, 1768, and cleared the
straits of Sunda on the 19th in the afternoon. By this time the crew
were all perfectly recovered of the scurvy, but a few remained ill of
the bloody flux. On the 20th the ships were in sight of the Isle of
France, and, on the 8th of November, the Boudeuse anchored in the port
of that island; the Etoile, which had been unavoidably left behind,
anchoring in the same port on the following day.

They sailed from this the 12th of December, 1768, leaving the Etoile
behind them to undergo some necessary repairs. Without encountering
any singular accident they had sight of the Cape of Good Hope on the
18th of January, and came to anchor in Table Bay on the following
morning. Bougainville quitted this on the 17th, anchored off St.
Helena on the 4th of February, and on the 25th, joined the Swallow,
commanded by Captain Cartert. Nothing material happened from this time
till they had sight of the Isle of Ushant, where a violent squall of
wind had nearly blasted the hopes of the voyage. On the 15th the
commander bore away for St. Maloes, which he entered on the following
day, after an absence of two years and four months from his native
country; during all which time he had buried only seven of his crew, a
circumstance that will be deemed truly astonishing, when we reflect on
the variety of dangers they had encountered and the amazing changes of
climate they had experienced.

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK.

James Cook was born in a mud hut at Marton, in the north riding of
Yorkshire, 27th October 1728. His father was an agricultural servant,
who, with his wife, bore a most unexceptionable character for honesty
and industry. The village school-mistress taught the boy to read; but
at eight years of age his father, through his good conduct, was
appointed to be bailiff of a farm near Great Ayton, belonging to
Thomas Skottowe, Esq., who at his own expense put James to a
day-school in that town, where he was taught writing and the first
rules in arithmetic. The predilection of the lad inclined him for the
sea; but as this stood contrary to the wishes of his parents, he was
soon after his twelfth year apprenticed to William Sanderson, a
general dealer in haberdashery, grocery, hardware, etc., at Staith,
upon the coast, about ten miles north of Whitby. The youth’s mind,
however, continued more occupied upon maritime affairs than anything
else, and though he faithfully discharged his duty to his master, he
longed to be at sea. An opportunity occurred to favor his desires. Mr.
Sanderson canceled his indentures, and left him to pursue his
inclinations. Thus freed, he bound himself to Messrs. John and Henry