48 



Cordovah Voyage of DUcovery 



us, on account, as we supposed, of the death of one of their 

 boys ; for it is their practice to abandon those places where any 

 unfortunate accident has befallen them. Our chaplains pri- 

 vately administered baptism to this child, who, as the sijrgeons 

 thought, was under two years of age, giving him the names 

 Antonio Joseph Julian. We buried him in the point of low 

 land forming the west side of the entrance of the harbour; and, 

 in the interior of the wood, near the same place, we deposited 

 the body of a seaman, who, in consequence of an ague with 

 which he was attacked before we left Spain, died on the last day 

 of this month. 



In one of our excursions to tlie mountains which surround 

 Port Galan, we found a bottle sealed up, containing a long 

 Latin inscription, and placed there by M. de Bougainville, as he 

 went this way, on his voyage round the world in 1768. In imi- 

 tation of his example, we left another of the same kind ; and 

 gave to the mountain on which these monuments were left, the 

 name of Cerro de la Cruz (Mountain of the Cross). 



Winter already began (end of February) in this inhospitable 

 climate to give notice of its approach : our cables suff^-red 

 greatly from the hurricanes from WNW. to SW. which blew 

 with but little intermission ; so that we were much alarmed 

 for them ; which induced us speedily to come to some resolu- 

 tion respecting our future motions. A council of officers 

 was held, in which it w^as resolved, that, in this case, our 

 best way to conform to the orders of his Majesty, w^as di- 

 rectly to return to Europe, without exposing, by an ill-timed 

 and unnecessary temerity, the vessel and the people to fresh 

 disasters, and the public treasury to additional charges. 



The ship's company, although greatly fatigued with the 

 constant and severe duty of the frigate in these tempestuous 

 regions, and with the various excursions in the boats, during 

 which they had but little relaxation from their toils, by night or 

 by day, still continued to enjoy good health, and was therefore 

 no inducement for us to embrace this resolution, notwith«tand^ 

 ing that we were in want of many necessary articles, particularly 

 for preserving the health of the men ; and that we were under 

 the necessity of diminishing, by one-fourth part, the daily al- 

 lowance of provisions, in order to ensure a sufficiency for our 

 consumption. 



We had now only to wait until the wind should become 

 favourable to put our design in execution ; and, in tlje mean 

 time, set about examining tiie motions of our time-pieces, — 

 an operation as easy in itself as irksome in this climate, 

 when the heavens seem to be the declared enemies of astro- 



