140 WINTER VOYAGE THROUGH STRAITS OF MAGELLAN 



channel is descried leading apparently into the very bowels of 

 the mountain, wliicli towei's thousands of feet above us, " Port ! " 

 from the forecastle. " Port it is, sir ! " from the quartermaster at 

 the wheel, and the ship's head flies to starboard, obedient to the 

 helm. All hands are at their stations, both anchors ready, and 

 the silence fore and aft is profound. We enter the passage, and 

 the helm is alternatel}^ hard-up and hard-down as we thread our 

 Wciy through the narrow pass, scarce 200 yards wide, bordered 

 by rocks and islets, upon which the sea roars and surges dis- 

 mally. Now we emerge into an inland sea which in the thick 

 weather seems almost illimitable, the shores being perpendicular 

 walls of rock two and three thousand feet in height. The vessel 

 turns short round to port and shoots ahead toward a little cove 

 under the shadow of an immense mountain. "By the mark, 

 seventeen! " comes from the chains, and the anchor is let go. 

 Hawsers are run from the ship to one of the few stunted trees to 

 keep the vessel clear of the rocks, and the Narragansett is safely 

 sheltered for the night. 



Sir John Narborough spoke soberl}^ and truly when he named 

 this the " Isle of Desolation." Nothing can be more grandl^^ or 

 profoundly desolate than the scenery in the neighborhood of 

 Oldfield anchorage. Port Churruca. The term port is an entire 

 misnomer, for beyond two small coves, where anchorage may be 

 obtained in from 15 to 40 fathoms of Avater, there is no bottom 

 to be found with less than 50 or 100 fathoms of line; in man}'- 

 places there are no soundings at all. The deep inlets of this 

 inland sea are bordered by awful precipices, broken b}' frightful 

 chasms and ravines. There are a few stunted trees along the 

 beach, but on the mountain side not even the usual moss or 

 lichen — nothing but bare, slate-colored, savage-looking rocks, cov- 

 ered with ice and snow. The place is fully sheltered, and all that 

 night the ship lay profoundly quiet, not a breath of air stirring, 

 though the roar of the sea and the whistling of the furious west 

 wind outside could be distinctly heard. A party left the ship 

 before dark to explore the head of the little cove. They found 

 some signs of vegetation in the gully at the base of the cliff, under 

 which the ship, was moored, and one pf the explorers collected a 

 bouquet of Fuegian flowers. The sailors, however, looking rather 

 toward the practical than the beautiful, found a bed of fine mus- 

 sels, upon which we all regaled ourselves that evening. 



The next morning the weather, though overcast with rain 

 squalls at intervals, was sufficiently favorable to admit of an 



