i
ll!
I'ii
10 J •I 50
'M'rii'
360 DEATH ÜF MB. KOWLETT. June
When the day at last broke on the Ilth , we saw the Adventure
coming out to us from the cove where she had passed the
night, and then both vessels sailed out of the Channel, past
Mount Skyring and all the Furies, as fast as sails could urge
them. At sunset we were near the Tower Rocks,* and with
a fresh north-west wind stood out into the Pacific, with every
inch of canvas set which we could carry.
On the 26th we were still together, in latitude 43° and longitude
75°, although gales had occasionaUy separated us for a
few hours. After passing the latitude of 45° we had a succession
of bad weather, and adverse (N.W.) winds. Trusting
too much to our usual good fortune I had steered in too direct
a line towards Childe, and in consequence all these north-west
winds were against us. Had I shaped a course which would have
taken us farther from the land, while we had the wind southward
of west, we might have made a fair wind of these provoking
north-westers, and arrived at Chiloe at least a week
sooner. A few remarks upon the wind and weather, between
the parallels of forty and forty-seven, off Childe and the
Chonos Archipelago, will be found in the Appendix (No. 19).
On the 27th we witnessed the last moments of Mr. Rowlett’s
existence in this world. He had long been sinking under
an internal complaint of which it was impossible to cure him,
except by a vigorous and uniform mode of treatment to which
he was not willing to conform until too late : but his illness had
no relation whatever to the service in which he had been employed.
He was much regretted by all of us, having been a
kind, honourable friend. The following day we committed the
body of our deceased companion to the seaman’s grave, that
“ ever-changing and mysterious main.” In the evening we
were near the north-west end of Childe, and at midnight an
anchor was let go in our former berth, off Point Arena. The
Adventure arrived two days afterwards, her main-boom having
broken in a heavy squall on the 27th, in consequence of which
she got to leeward, and was prevented from sooner weathering
the north end of the island. A supply of fresh provisions
* Not far from Cape Noir, on Noir Island.
1834. CHILIAN GOVERNMENT. 361
and good rates for the chronometers were obtained, after
which we sailed (14th July) for Valparaiso, and arrived there
together on the 22d.
My first object would have been, after seeing the vessels
securely moored, to go to Santiago, present my instructions
in the proper quarter, and ask for the sanction of the Chilian
government, in prosecuting the survey of the coasts of Chile;
but I was so much in arrear with respect to computations and
charts, that I could not venture to give even a week to an
excurrion to that agreeable place, where a thousand attractive
novelties would inevitably have diverted my attention in some
measure from the didl routine of calculation, and attention
to the data accumulated by many months’ exertion of those
on board the Adventure, as well as in the Beagle; therefore I
sent Lieutenant Wickham, who spoke Spanish, and had been
at Santiago before, to show my instructions to the Authorities,
and request their approval of our examination of the shores
under their jurisdiction. Nothing could be more satisfactory
than the reply (Appendix No. 20), and from that time until
the Beagle left Chile she received every attention and assistance
which the Chilian officers could afford.
As I proposed to remain at Valparaiso during the winter
months, Messrs. Stokes, King, Usborne, and myself, whose occupation
would be sedentary and would require room, as well
as more light and quiet than we could always have on board,
took up our quarters on shore ; while those on board attended
to the refit and provisioning of our vessels.
At this time I was made to feel and endure a bitter disappointment
; the mortification it caused preyed deeply, and
the regret is still vivid. I found that it would be impossible
for me to maintain the Adventure much longer: my own
means had been taxed, even to involving myself in difficulties,
and as the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty did not
think It proper to give me any assistance, I saw that all my
cherished hopes of examining many groups of islands in the
Pacific, besides making a complete survey of the Chilian
and Peruvian shores, must utterly ikil. I had asked to be
■He
T r
J,
li ]
If