Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

CHAPTER XI. Leave Port Otway — San Quintin's Sound — Gulf of Penas — Kelly Har- bour — St. Xavier Island — Death of Serjeant Lindsey — Port Xavier Ygnacio Bay — Channel's mouth — Bad weather — Perilous situation Lose the yawl — Sick list — Return to Port Otway — Thence to Port Famine — Gregory Bay — Natives — Guanaco meat — Skunk — Condors —Brazilians — Juanico — Captain Foster — Changes of officers. The Beagle returned to Port Otway the following day, and in an interval of better weather obtained the observations neces- sary for ascertaining the latitude and longitude of the port, and for rating the chronometers. Captain Stokes's journal continues on the 19th of May: "We left Port Otway, and as soon as we had cleared its entrance, steered E.N.E. across the gulf; leaving to the northward all that cluster of islands, distinguished in the chart as the ' Marine Islands,"' and went to within a mile from the eastern shore. Thence we ran four miles and a half parallel with the direction of coast E.S.E. (mag.), at the mean distance of a mile off shore. The aspect of the eastern and western portions of this gulf is very different, and the comparison is much to the disadvantage of the eastern. Ranges of bare, rugged, rocky mountains now presented themselves, and where wood was seen, it was always stunted and distorted. A long swell rolled in upon the shore, and every thing seemed to indicate a stormy and inclement coast. There are a few bays and coves, in which is anchorage depth, with a pretty good bottom of dark coarse sand : but rock- weed in large patches, seen in some of them, denoted foul ground ; and tliey are all more or less exposed, and extremely unsafe. As night advanced, the weather became rainy and thick ; so havino- reached a biaht which seemed less insecure than others that we passed, I hauled in, and at about seven p.m., guided only by the gradual decrease of our soundings, from