1740. ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ. 37 occasion, of putrid fevers, pleurisies, the jaundice, and extreme rheumatic pains; a difficulty of breathing, ulcers of the worst kind, attended with rotten bones, and yielding to no remedies; a re-opening of the scars of old wounds; nay, strangest of all in British sailors, "a dis"position to be seized with dreadful terrors on the slight"est accidents." We are told that the patients, though confined to their hammocks, sometimes continued to bear the appearance of health; for they ate and drank heartily, were cheerful, and talked in a loud strong tone of voice; and yet, on their being the least moved, though it was only from one part of the ship to the other, and that in their hammocks, they immediately expired; and that others, who confided in their seeming strength, and attempted to rise, died before they could well reach the deck. If any reader should suspect exaggeration in these details, he will find them mournfully confirmed by the list of deaths. In the first month that the disease appeared the Centurion lost forty-three men, in the second month nearly double that number; and before they reached the land above 200 had died, and so many were ill, that no more than six fore-mast men in a watch could be mustered capable of duty. Ere long, too, there was a deficiency of fresh water; and the island which they sought a small speck in a boundless sea-for some time eluded their research: once, when seen, it was mistaken for a cloud on the horizon, and passed by. At last, on the 10th of June, they approached and anchored at the much desired port, being then so feeble and exhausted that a few days longer at sea would probably have destroyed them altogether. The island of Juan Fernandez (so called from a Spaniard who had formerly obtained a grant of it) was then uninhabited, though abounding in all the gifts of nature that could tempt the residence of man. Aromatic woods clothe its sides, crystal springs gush from its valleys; it produces many kinds of excellent herbs, and the sea around it teems with the greatest variety of fish. In extent it is about five leagues long and two broad. It had once been dwelt in by Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, who had been left behind by his ship, and lived alone, until taken up by another some years afterwards. 66 66 This real Crusoe had published a most curious account of his hermit's life; and the accuracy of his statements was verified by a little incident that afforded great pleasure as a countryman's token in a far distant and solitary land to the Centurion's crew. He says that, as he often caught more goats than he wanted, he sometimes marked their ears and let them go; this being about thirty-two years before the Centurion arrived at the island. Now it so happened, that the very first goat killed by the sailors, a patriarch of an exceeding majestic beard, and most venerable aspect," had his ears slit, from whence they rightly concluded that he must have been one of the hermit's little flock. These goats were, indeed, no small resource to the hungry seamen: they also ate seal's flesh, which they did not relish at first, but afterwards calling it lamb among themselves such is the power of names upon the multitude! — thought it very palatable.* Of still more service were the wild herbs to the sick, who were carried to land and placed under tents; yet the healthy were so few, that though the officers worked alike with the men, it was with the utmost difficulty that this removal was effected. Above a dozen died in the boats, on being exposed to the fresh air. Now, however, the disease rapidly abated, and a few weeks sufficed to restore the survivors to their wonted strength and vigour. But where was the rest of the squadron? A few days after the Centurion arrived the Trial sloop: it had been in like manner afflicted with the scurvy, and so severely, that at last only the Captain, the Lieutenant, and three men were able to stand by the sails. But even these sufferings were light when compared with those of the Gloucester, which came in view shortly afterwards: they had been for some time at the small allowance of one pint of water to each man for twenty-four hours; they had already thrown overboard two thirds of their crew; and of those that remained alive scarce any were capable of duty, except the officers and their servants. The poor Chelsea pensioners were of course among the earliest *Lord Anson's Voyage, p. 172. 1740. BYRON'S NARRATIVE. 39 victims: every one of them had perished.* In fact there was no longer strength sufficient to navigate the ship; and, though some of the Centurion's men were sent out to it in boats, it was twice driven off the island by winds or currents; and above a month elapsed before it could be brought to anchor, or the survivors be landed to recover and refresh themselves. Some weeks later they were also joined by their victualler, the Anna Pink. Of the remaining ships the Pearl and Severn had suffered so severely in the storms, that, as afterwards appeared, they had put back to the Brazils, and took no further part in the expedition. The fate of the last ship, the Wager, was most disastrous of all it was wrecked on a small desert island to the southward of Chiloe. The crew (140 in number) were saved from the waves, but instantly exposed to still more dire distress; many of them perishing miserably from want of food. Moreover, the men conceived that by the loss of the ship the authority of the Captain had ended: the Captain, on his part, was of no kind or conciliatory temper; and thus mutiny soon came in to embitter the anguish of famine. The sailors, at length seizing the long boat, steered away with the view of passing the streights of Magellan; and, nearly impossible as it was deemed, yet, after a most surprising navigation, some of them, to the number of thirty, did actually reach Rio Grande, in Brazil. But afraid of being tried for mutiny in England, should their Captain ever be present to confront them, they had insisted on leaving him on shore when they began their voyage, and with him the Lieutenant, the Surgeon, and the two Midshipmen. One of these last, the Honourable John Byron, has left a wellwritten narrative of his sufferings and adventures on this occasion: he afterwards rose to the rank of Admiral in the British navy, commanded in the West Indies, and survived till 1798, but is best known as the grandfather of the celebrated poet.† The same frankness, the same * See Lord Anson's Voyage, p. 223. In the Centurion there had survived only four! † Lord Byron has made great use of the real incidents of the Wager's Shipwreck for that in his Don Juan, as, indeed, is observed by himself (canto ii. stanza 187.). energy, the same love of enterprise and of distinction, appear both in the sire and the son; but while the spirit of the former was restrained by the rules, and yet quickened by the impulse, of the public service, the latter was assailed by the temptations of early wealth, and the opportunities of unlimited indulgence. Thus did that great genius sink into errors and failings which his grandsire never knew; thus his life, if more glorious, was far less long, less happy, less truly honourable. Well and wisely was it said, by a true practical philosopher, that next to religion the most important principle in life is to have a pursuit! * Yet the contrast of the Byrons may show that a profession, where the duties are fixed and indispensable, is better still than a pursuit which may be taken up or laid aside at pleasure. 66 The four officers of the Wager left behind (for the fifth had sunk beneath his sufferings) contrived, by the assistance of some Indians, after surmounting many perils and enduring extraordinary hardships, to make their way towards the Spanish settlements. The country they passed is described by Byron as most dismal: a deep swamp, "in which the woods may be rather said to float than grow; so that, except a range of deformed broken "rocks which form the sea coast, the traveller cannot "find sound footing anywhere."† On reaching the island of Chiloe they surrendered themselves to the Spaniards, who treated them at first with much pomp and affectation of military prowess. Thus, on being carried to the town of Castro, "the boats all lay upon their oars, and "there was a great deal of ceremony used in hailing and "asking for the keys, as if it had been a regular forti"fication. After some time we landed, but could see "neither gates nor walls, nor any thing that had the ap66 pearance of a garrison. As we walked up a steep hill "into the town, the way was lined with men, who had "broomsticks upon their shoulders instead of muskets, "and a lighted match in their hands. When we came "to the Corregidor's house, we found it full of people. "He was an old man, very tall, with a long cloak on, a *Sir Humphry Davy's Salmonia, p. 270. 1740. THE JESUITS OF CASTRO. 41 "tie-wig, and a SPADA of immense length by his side, " and received us in great state and form."* The same evening they were transferred, in the hope, as was alleged, of their religious conversion, to the Jesuits' College, where they passed eight days, with at least the benefit of regular meals after their long famine. "We "used to keep close to our cells till the bell rang for din66 ner, when we were conducted into a hall, where there was 66 one table for the fathers and another for us. After a 66 66 66 66 very long Latin prayer we sat down and ate what was put before us, without a single word passing on either side, and as soon as we had finished there was another long prayer, which, however, did not appear so tedious 66 as the first, and then we retired to our cells again." These Latin prayers, and a strict search for any valuables they might have left (no doubt with the kind view to detach their minds from worldly things), were the only steps taken towards the great object of reclaiming them from heresy. On being sent, however, to the main land of Chili, they experienced much courtesy and generosity from the Spaniards, and were allowed to reside at large upon their parole, until the conclusion of a cartel gave them liberty to return to England. The tempests which had wrecked the Wager and scattered the other ships were, however, so far serviceable to them, that they produced still more effect upon a squadron fitted out from Spain to pursue and attack them. This squadron, commanded by Don Joseph Pizarro, and consisting of five ships of the line with a regiment of infantry on board, had arrived at St. Catherine's only four days after Anson had left it. Beyond Cape Horn they were, like him, buffeted by the winds and waves: two ships perished; and the others, though escaping shipwreck, and exempt from scurvy, suffered most grievously from famine, having, through the negligence of the pur * Byron's Narrative, p. 154. On another occasion there was an alarm of an English landing, upon which, says Byron, "the Governor "of Chaco mounted his horse and rode backwards and forwards, say"ing that he would give the English a warm reception, meaning, I suppose, that he would have left them a good fire in his house; "for I am certain he would soon have been in the woods, if he had seen any thing like an English ship coming in." (P. 173.) 66 66 |