I
r' *' ■'
:: ' i u t
but the water is never very cold (42° to 4 4 ° ) .q) In the afternoon
we saw the Beagle’s mast-heads, and soon afterwards
arrived on board, and enjoyed the happiness of finding all
hands well, and every thing ready for farther progress. Lieutenant
Kempe had turned the few hours of light, each day
afforded, to the best acccount. Those who have had the care of
ships in remote places, will know my feelings at finding all as it
should be, after a long absence, in a country little known. Not
a man had been i l l ; and the weather had been very tolerable
compared with what was expected. There was less snow on
the mountains than when I left Port Gallant early in May.
One thing only disappointed me, — the Adelaide had not
arrived. It was past the time appointed for her, but she might
have found much more to do than was expected, or might have
been obliged to return by the Magdalen, instead of coming
through the Barbara Channel.
“ During my absence, two sealing vessels had been at Port
Gallant, on their way through the Strait. From one (an American),
which arrived on the 7th of May from Staten Land,
information was received that the Adventure had not been
there. The Chanticleer had remained some time, but had
sailed for the Cape of Good Hope. The master of the American
had a brother staying with a boat’s crew in Staten Land,
during the whole of April, who would probably have seen the
Adventure, had she called. The other was Mr. Cutler’s vessel,
the Uxor, bound to the United States; he had been through
a channel which leads from the Gulf of Trinidad to Cape
Tamar, and spoke well of i t ; but could give no drawing, nor
precise information ; having passed through rapidly.
“ Lieutenant Kempe had been at the summit of the Mountain
de la Cruz, and left a memorial. No rare animals had
been seen, nor any new birds. Small fish were still caught with
hook and line, but very few with the seine.
“ I never was fully aware of the comfort of a bed until this
(q) A t the western entrance of the S trait the water is said to he generally
a few degrees warmer than at the eastern.—R. F .
night. Not even a frost-bitten foot could prevent mo from
sleeping soundly for the first time during many nights.
“ 9th. At one o’clock this day, I heard an exclamation of
‘ The schooner !’ and soon saw her standing across from the
Barbara Channel with a fair wind. Before she anchored in Port
Gallant, I went on board, and, to my joy, found Lieutenants
Skyring and Graves, and all their companions well, having
thoroughly completed thework they had to perform, without loss,
or even an accident. The difficulty of their task was increased by
very bad weather ; but they succeeded in tracing and surveying
the Magdalen Channel to its junction with the sea, and thence
returned by the Barbara Channel to Port Gallant; carrying-
on a regular chain of triangles, and connecting their work with
points previously fixed in the Strait of Magalhaens. A multitude
of small islands, and much bad weather, detained them
longer than was expected.
“ While Lieutenants Skyring and Graves, assisted by Mr.
Kirke, were employed surveying, Mr. Bynoe collected geological
and other specimens.*
“ lltli. We had nearly reached the shortest day; the sun
did not rise above the hills until past eleven; it disappeared
again before two (the land being less high towards the N.W.),
and even in those three hours was seldom visible.
“ 12th. Finding that Lieutenant Skyring agreed with me
in thinking that the channel from Cape Tamar to the Gulf of
Trinidad might be surveyed by the Adelaide, in her way to
San Carlos de Chiloe, I resolved to send him and Lieutenant
Graves on that service, hoping that it would lead to the discovery
of a passage into the Skyring Water, and give vessels
another way of getting into or out of the Strait, should thick
weather or adverse winds oppose them in the usual channel.
“ In making this arrangement there was much to be considered.
As I had received no orders from Captain King to
employ the Adelaide in surveying, after her return from the
Magdalen Channel; and as I had been desired to repair, with
her, to San Carlos, in Childe, during which voyage Lieutenant
» Geol. Soc. Museum, Nos. 176 to 205, and Zool. Mus.
VOL. I. R