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Our course was therefore southerly, and in latitude 45° south,
a few leagues northward of Port Santa Elena, we first saw the
coast of Patagonia. I intended to visit that port; and, on the
28th, anchored, and landed there.
Seamen should remember that a knowledge of the tide is of
especial consequence in and near Port Santa Elena. During a
calm we were carried by it towards reefs which line the shore,
and were obliged to anchor until a breeze sprung up.
The coast along which we had passed, from Point Lohos to
the north-east point of Port Santa Elena, appeared to be
dry and bare of vegetation. There were no trees; the land
seemed to be one long extent of undulating plain, beyond
wliich were high, flat-topped hills of a rocky, precipitous
character. The shore was fronted by rocky reefs extending
two or three miles from high-water mark, which, as the
tide fell, were left dry, and in many places were covered with
seals.
As soon as we had secured the ships, Captain Stokes accompanied
me on shore to select a place for our observations.
We found the spot which the Spanish astronomers of Malas-
pina’s Voyage (in 1798) used for their observatory, the most
convenient for our purpose. It is near a very steep shingle
(stony) beach at the back of a conspicuous red-coloured, rocky
projection which terminates a small bay, on the western side,
at the head of the port. The remains of a wreck, which proved
to be that of an American whaler, the Decatur of New York,
were found upon the extremity of the same point; she had
been driven on shore from her anchors during a gale.
The sight of the wreck, and the steepness of the shingle
beach just described, evidently caused by the frequent action
of a heavy sea, did not produce a favourable opinion of the
safety of the port; but as it was not the season for easterly
gales, to which only the anchorage is exposed, and as appearances
indicated a westerly wind, we did not anticipate dangei.
While we were returning on hoard, the wind blew so
strongly that we had much difficulty in reaching the ships,
and the boats were no sooner hoisted up, and every thing
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made snug, than it blew a hard gale from the S.W. The
water however, from the wind being off the land, was perfectly
smooth, and the ships rode securely through the night : but
the following morning the gale increased, and veered to the
southward, which threw a heavy sea into the port, placing
us, to say the least, in a very uneasy situation. Happily it
ceased at sunset. In consequence of the unfavourable state of
the weather, no attempt was made to land in order to observe
an eclipse of the sun ; to make which observation was one
reason for visiting this port.
The day after the gale, while I was employed in making
some astronomical observations, a party roamed about in quest
o f game : but with little success, as they killed only a few wild
ducks. The fire which they made for cooking communicated
to the dry stubbly grass, and in a few minutes the whole
country was in a blaze. The flames continued to spread during
our stay, and, in a few days, more than fifteen miles along
the coast, and seven or eight miles into the interior were overrun
by the fire. The smoke very much impeded our observations,
for at times it quite obscured the sun.
The geological structure of this part of the country, and a
considerable portion of the coast to the north and south, consists
of a fine-grained porphyritic clay slate. The summits of the
hills near the coast are generally of a rounded form, and are
paved, as it were, with small, rounded, siliceous pebbles, imbedded
in the soil, and in no instance lying loose or in heaps ; but
those of the interior are flat-topped, and uniform in height, for
many miles in extent. The valleys and lower elevations, notwithstanding
the poverty and parched state of the soil, were
partially covered with grass and shrubby plants, which afford
sustenance to numerous herds of guanacoes. Many of these
animals were observed feeding near the beach when we were
working into the bay, but they took the alarm, so that upon
landing we only saw them at a considerable distance. In none
of our excursions could we find any water that had not a
brackish taste. Several wells have been dug in the valleys,
both near the sea and at a considerable distance from it, by the