When The General Was Informed Of This
Adventure, He Dispatched Three Boats Well Armed On Shore, But The
Savages Were Not To Be Seen, Though They Had Left Their Marks Behind
Them, Having Dug Up The Interred Body Of A Dutchman, And Left His Body
On The Ground, Barbarously Disfigured.
On going to the knights tablet,
the Dutch also found it had been broken by the savages.
Early in the night of the 3d September, they got out from the Straits of
Magellan into the South Sea, with a fair wind, and continued their
voyage to the W.N.W. with the wind at N.E. till the 7th, having all that
time fine weather. This day, however, the sea began to swell and rise so
high, that the vice-admiral had to lie to and hoist his boat on board,
which was likewise done by the Fidelity. While de Weert was sailing
directly in the wake of the admiral, who led the fleet, an accident
happened on board the yacht, which had the wind of the Fidelity, which
obliged both the Faith and the Fidelity, the former being de Weert's
ship, to furl their sails, and lie to for assisting the yacht. The
admiral continued his course, thinking that the other ships continued to
follow him, and that the fog prevented them from being seen by the
watch. The vice-admiral also was obliged to furl his sails shortly
after, the fog being so thick as to prevent them from seeing each other,
though very near.
On the 8th the two yachts lost sight of the ships, but these three kept
company all that day; and next day the whole fleet rejoined to their
great joy. After joining, Derick Geritz sent the Postillion to the
admiral, to request the assistance of his carpenters; but they were
sick, and those from the Faith and Fidelity went on board the yacht.
This proved afterwards a serious loss to these ships, as they never got
their carpenters back. The wind shifted all of a sudden, and the sea
became so rough and stormy that the yacht had to furl her sails, as was
done by the vice-admiral, who was ahead of the Faith, and by the
Fidelity. In the ensuing night the yacht and vice-admiral made sail
again, without advertising the other two ships by signal, so that they
continued to lie to. When day broke next morning, Captains Baltazar de
Cordes and Sebalt de Weert, of the Fidelity and Faith, were extremely
troubled at not seeing any of the other ships. De Weert, who was now the
senior captain, was also much troubled by the unprovided state of his
ship, having no master, only two old pilots, and a very small number of
seamen, mostly sick and weak through the cold and damp weather, though
they kept a fire burning night and day.
The N.E. wind became so violent on the 16th September, that the two
ships were every moment in danger of sinking. The gallery of the Faith
was rent open above an inch, and the sea broke so violently over the
Fidelity, that her men were almost constantly up to their knees in
water. She likewise sprung a leak, owing to which they were forced to
keep her pumps constantly going day and night, yet could hardly keep her
afloat. At last, after much search, the leak was found and stopt. In
this deplorable situation these two ships remained for twenty-four
hours, spooning under bare poles. The seamen also became much
dissatisfied, though allowed two ounces of dried fish a day to each man,
with a reasonable quantity of biscuit. But they were much discontented
with this scanty allowance, having been used in the straits to fill
themselves with muscles, of which they could not now brook the want, so
that the captains had much ado to pacify them.
In the night of the 26th September they fell in with the land to the
north of the straits by mistake, thinking themselves to have been twenty
leagues from the land; and in the morning the Faith was in great danger,
as the wind drifted her towards the coast, on which were two rocks,
which they avoided with the utmost difficulty. The Fidelity, which was a
considerable way in front, had discovered the rocks in time, and had
easily given them a wide birth. They were only three leagues from the
straits when they fell in with the land; and as the westerly wind now
blew so hard that they were unable to bear up against it, the two
captains now resolved to regain the straits, and to wait there in some
safe road or bay for a fair wind, when they did not doubt of rejoining
the other ships, as it had been agreed to wait at the island of St. Mary
on the coast of Chili for two months, in case of separation. About
evening, therefore, of the 27th September, they arrived at the southern
point of the straits' mouth, and were drifted by the current six or
seven leagues within the straits, where they anchored in a very good
road.
Sec. 3. Incidents during their second Residence in the Straits of
Magellan.
From the 27th to the 30th of September they had tolerably good weather,
but the wind then began to blow so furiously from the S.W. that they
were forced to drop three anchors a-piece to keep them from being driven
on shore. As the summer of these antarctic regions was now approaching,
they were in hopes of fair weather; yet during two months that they
remained in the straits, they scarcely had a fair day in which to dry
their sails. For twenty days that they remained in this bay, to which
they gave the name of the Bay of Trouble, they endured incredible
hardships, being forced to go on shore daily in search of a few birds,
which, with muscles and snails found upon the rocks, formed their sorry
subsistence.
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