384 APPEARANCE OF THE SETTLEMENT. 



The narrow entrance to the inner harbour, may 

 by some be considered a draw-back, but on the 

 other hand, it must be borne in mind, that what is 

 an impediment to navigation, is also^ a safeguard 

 against attack. Moreover, from this want of 

 breadth in the harbour, a fort on Point Record, 

 which is commanded by no height, would perfectly 

 protect it. 



It was from this confined portion that our anxious 

 desire to catch a glimpse of the new settlement was 

 at length gratified ; and we were somewhat sur- 

 prised, considering the recent date of its formation, 

 to discover the presence of so many buildings as 

 were scattered over the top of a cliffy point on the 

 south-west part of the harbour, called Adam Head, 

 at the base of which was a long jetty. 



Clearing the bank off" Spear Point, we ran up and 

 anchored near H.M.S. Britomart, lying off*the settle- 

 ment, early in the afternoon. The sight of another 

 vessel is ever cheering to the hearts of those who have 

 been, as it were, for a time, cut off" from the world ;* 

 nor was our arrival, bringing, as we did, news and 

 letters, any less welcome; though after a long interval 

 the receipt of a letter, perhaps bearing an ill omen in 

 the very colour of its wax, is very far from generat- 

 ing unmixed emotions of pleasure. So much may 



* I well remember the sensations I experienced on first seeing 

 a sail after an interval of nine months, and that wholly spent 

 on the storm-beaten shores of South-western Tierra Del Fuego. — 

 J. L. S. 



