CHA P . VI.
A general Defcription o f the >S'. E . P a r t o f Terr a del Fuego,
and the Streight o f L e M a ire ; with fome Remarks on
L o rd A n fo n s Account o f them-, and D irections fo r the
PaJJage Weftward, round this P a r t o f Am erica, into-
the South Seas.
1769. LMOST all writers who have mentioned the ifland o f
^January. ^ x A . Terra del Fuego, defcribe it as deftitute of wood, and
covered with fnow. In the winter it may poflibly be covered
with fnow, and thofe who faw it at that feafon might perhaps
be eafily deceived, by its appearance, into an opinion
that it was deftitute of wood. Lord Anfon was there in the
beginning of March, which anfwers to our September; and
we were there the beginning of January, which anfwers to
our July, which may account for the difference of his defcription
of it from ours. We fell in with it about twenty-
one leagues to the weftward of the Streight of Le Maire, and
from the time that we firft faw it, trees were plainly to be
diftinguifhed with our glafles; and as we came nearer, though
here and there we difcovered patches of fnow, the fides of
the hills and the fea-coaft appeared to be covered with a
beautiful verdure. The hills are lofty, but not mountainous,
though the fummits of them are quite naked. The foil in
the valleys is rich, and of a confiderable depth; and at the
foot of almoft every hill there is a brook, the water o f which
has a reddifh hue, like that which runs through our turf
bogs in England, but it is by no means ill tailed, and upon
6 the
1769.
Janaary.
the whole proved to be the beft that we took in during our
voyage. We ranged the coaft to the Streight, and had found- —
ings all the way from 40 to 20 fathom, upon a gravelly and
fandy bottom. The raoll remarkable land on Terra del
Fuego is a hill, in the form of a fugar-loaf, which Hands on
the weft fide not far from the fea; and the three hills, called
the Three Brothers, about nine miles to the weftward of Cape
St. Diego, the low point that forms the north entrance of the
Streight of Le Maire.
It is faid in the account of Lord Anfon’s voyage, that it is
difficult to determine exattly where the Streight lies, thoug
the appearance of Terra del Fuego be well known, without
knowing alfo the appearance o f Staten Land; and that fome
navigators have been deceived by three hills on Staten Land,,
which have been miftaken for the Three Brothers on Terra
del Fuego, and fo over-ftiot the Streight. But no fhip can
poflibly mifs the Streight that coafts Terra del Fuego wit in
fight of land, for it will then, of itfelf, be f u t a l y con-
fpicuous ; and Staten Land, which forms the eaft fide will be
ftill more manifeftly diftinguilhed, for there is no land on
Terra del Fuego like it. The Streight of Le Maire can be
miffed only by Handing too far to the eaftward, without
keeping the land of Terra del Fuego in fight: if this is done,
it may be miffed, however accurately the appearance of t e
coaft of Staten Land may have been exhibited; and if this is
not done, it cannot be miffed, though the appearance o f that
coaft be not known. The entrance of the Streight fliould
not be attempted but with a fair wind and moderate weather,
and upon the very beginning of the tide of flood, which
happens here, at the full and change of the moon, about one
or two o’clock ; it is alfo beft to keep as near to the Terra
del Fuego fhore as the winds will admit. By attending o
thefe particulars, a fhip may be got quite