399 BASKE T ME. MURRAY.
they stopped on the first day. Their provisions were all consumed,
two-thirds having been stolen with the boat, and the
return of the natives, to plunder, and perhaps kill them, was
expected daily.
“ The basket, I cannot call it a canoe, left the Cape (now
doubly deserving of its name) early on the morning of the
4th, and worked its way slowly and heavily amongst the
islands, the men having only one biscuit each with them. They
paddled all day, and the following night, until two o’clock this
morning (5th), when in passing the cove where the ship lay,
they heard one of our dogs hark, and found their way to us
quite worn out by fatigue and hunger. Not a moment was lost,
my boat was immediately prepared, and I hastened away with
a fortnight’s provisions for eleven men, intending to relieve the
master, and then go in search of the stolen boat. The weather
was rainy, and the wind fresh and squally; but at eleven o’clock
I reached the cove, having passed to seaward of the cape,
and there found Mr. Murray anxiously, but doubtfully, awaiting
my arrival. My first object, after inquiring into the
business, was to scrutinize minutely the place where the boat
had been moored, (for I could not believe that she had been
stolen ;) but I was soon convinced that she had been well
secured in a perfectly safe place, and that she must, indeed,
have been taken away, just before daylight, by the natives.
Her mast and sails, and part of the provisions were in her;
but the men’s clothes and the instruments had fortunately been
landed. It was the usual custom with our boats, when away
from the ship, to keep a watch at night; but this place appeared
so isolated and desolate, that such a precaution did
not seem necessary. Had I been with the boat, 1 should
probably have lost her in the same manner; for I only kept
a watch when I thought there was occasion, as I would
not harass the boat’s crew unnecessarily; and on this exposed
and sea-beaten island, I should not have suspected that Indians
would be found. It appeared that a party of them were
living in two wigwams, in a little cove about a mile from
that in which our boat lay, and must have seen her arrive;
SEARCH FO E T H E BOAT. 393
while their wigwams were so hidden as to escape the observation
of the whale-boat’s crew. At two o’clock on the first
morning, Mr. Murray sent one of the men out of the tent
to see if the boat rode well at her moorings in the cove, and
he found her secure. At four another man went to look out,
but she was then gone. The crew, doubtful what had been
her fate, immediately spread about the shore of the island to
seek for traces of her, and in their search they found the wigwams,
evidently just deserted ; the fire not being extinguished.
This at once explained the mystery, and some proceeding along
the shore, others went up on the hills to look for her in the
offing; but all in vain. The next morning Mr. Murray began
the basket, which was made chiefly by two of his men out of
small boughs, and some parts of the tent, with a lining of clayey
earth at the bottom. Being on an island, about fifteen miles
from the Beagle, their plan was as necessary as it was ingenious
: though certainly something more like a canoe than a
coracle could have been paddled faster.
“ The chronometer, theodolite, and other instruments having
been saved, Mr. Murray had made observations for fixing the
position of the place, and had done all that was requii-ed before
I arrived, when they embarked, with their things, in my boat,
which then contained altogether eleven men, a fortnight’s
provisions, two tents,* and clothing; yet with this load she
travelled many a long mile, during the following week, a proof
of the qualities of this five-oared whale-boat, which was also
built by Mr. Jonathan May, our carpenter, while we were at
San Carlos.
“ The very first place we went to, a small island about two
miles distant, convinced us still more decidedly of the fate of our
lost boat, and gave us hopes of retrieving her ; for near a lately
used wigwam, we found her mast, part of which had been cut off
with an axe that was in the boat. Our next point was then to
be considered, for to chase the thieves I was determined. North
and east of us, as far as the eye could reach, lay an extensive
• I carried two tents from the Beagle, theirs having been cut up for
the basket.