The Way To Come
At Them Is By The West End Of The Island.
When I returned on board I found every thing got off the shore, and the
launch in; so that we now only waited for a wind to put to sea.
The
festival, which we celebrated at this place, occasioned my giving it the
name of Christmas Sound. The entrance, which is three leagues wide, is
situated in the latitude of 55 deg. 27' S., longitude 70 deg. 16' W.; and in the
direction of N. 37 deg. W. from St Ildefonso Isles, distant ten leagues. These
isles are the best landmark for finding the sound. York Minster, which is
the only remarkable land about it, will hardly be known by a stranger, from
any description that can be given of it, because it alters its appearance
according to the different situations it is viewed from. Besides the black
rock, which lies off the end of Shag Island, there is another about midway
between this and the east shore. A copious description of this sound is
unnecessary, as few would be benefited by it. Anchorage, tufts of wood, and
fresh-water, will be found in all the coves and harbours. I would advise no
one to anchor very near the shore for the sake of having a moderate depth
of water, because there I generally found a rocky bottom.
The refreshments to be got here are precarious, as they consist chiefly of
wild fowl, and may probably never be found in such plenty as to supply the
crew of a ship; and fish, so far as we can judge, are scarce. Indeed the
plenty of wild-fowl made us pay less attention to fishing. Here are,
however, plenty of muscles, not very large, but well tasted; and very good
celery is to be met with on several of the low islets, and where the
natives have their habitations. The wild-fowl are geese, ducks, sea-pies,
shags, and that kind of gull so often mentioned in this journal under the
name of Port Egmont hen. Here is a kind of duck, called by our people race-
horses, on account of the great swiftness with which they run on the water;
for they cannot fly, the wings being too short to support the body in the
air. This bird is at the Falkland Islands, as appears by Pernety's Journal.
The geese too are there, and seem to be very well described under the name
of bustards. They are much smaller than our English tame geese, but eat as
well as any I ever tasted. They have short black bills and yellow feet. The
gander is all white; the female is spotted black and white, or grey, with a
large white spot on each wing. Besides the bird above-mentioned, here are
several other aquatic, and some land ones; but of the latter not many.
From the knowledge which the inhabitants seem to have of Europeans, we may
suppose that they do not live here continually, but retire to the north
during the winter.
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