22 Occurrences in the Navigation 



■whilst the boats were engaged in the necessary examinations of 

 both sides of the Strait. Here we completely re-fitted our 

 launch, which had so much suffered in the entrance : we termed 

 a stock to unite our two small anchors, adapting to them a 

 Dutch fourteen-inch cable. We ol)served several meridian alti- 

 tudes of the sun, to determine the latitude of the harbour ; we 

 examined the motions of our time-piece by observations of the 

 sun's absolute altitude, seeing that the state of the heavens 

 "would not admit of our takmg correspondinir altitudes ; and 

 lastly, here the use of wild parsley, with which the shores 

 abound, the opportunities of going on shore, the relief from 

 the constant labour and anxiety which "we had so long under- 

 gone, were of infinite service to the people of the frigate, whose 

 steadiness, good-will, apd general health, it was more easy to 

 admire than to describe. 



When we had finished our survey of the harbour and exa- 

 mined the adjacent coasts, the boat proceeded on other expe- 

 ditions. We went along the shore as far as the west part of 

 French Bay (Bay of St. Nicholas), making a draught of it as 

 we went along : from thence we crossed over the Strait to the 

 Land del Fuego, when we discovered an excellent bay and 

 harbour, to which we gave the names of Bay of Valdes and 

 Port Antonio, in honour of S'"* Don Antonio de Valdes, which 

 places were totally unnoticed by all former navigators. 



The natives who had been on-board the frigate while we lay 

 near Point St. Maria, as was before observed, followed us along 

 the shore, accompanied by the rest of their tribe, amounting to 

 twenty-three persons, and remained in Port Famine during the 

 whole time we staid in that harbour. At first they lodged half 

 a league to the northward, upon the sea-side ; but, after some of 

 our people had paid them visits, and presented them with some 

 little articles, exchanging pieces of cloth, caps, &c. for their 

 arms and ornaments, we so far gained their confidence, that 

 they removed to some huts in the bottom of the harbour, of the 

 same kind with many others which we had seen along the 

 coast. 



During our stay in Port Famine, the heavens were seldom 

 free from clouds; the prevailing winds were from SW. to VV. 

 and often very fresh : on the 19th, in the morning, there were 

 even some breezes from the N., but of short duration, nor did 

 they extend out into the channel of the Strait, as we learned 

 from our boat, which was at that time on her return from 

 Tierra del Fuego. 



On the mornmg of the 20th of January we sailed from Port 

 Famine, with a clear sky and easy wind from WSW., for Cape 

 St. Isidro. Soon alter \ve got under-weigh it fell calm, and 



