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

March 1830. treachebous rocks. 411 stock of provisions to last more than the time allotted for the the remainder of our solitary cruise. " By using substitutes for the mens' shoes, made of sealskin, we secured enough to last as long as we should want them- I have never mentioned the state of our sick list, because it was always so trifling. There had been very little doing in the surgeon's department ; nothing indeed of consequence, since Mr. Murray dislocated his shoulder. " The promontory of York Minster is a black irregularly- shaped rocky cliff, eight hundred feet in height, rising almost perpendicularly from the sea. It is nearly the loftiest as well as the most projecting part of the land about Christmas Sound, which, generally speaking, is not near so high as that further Avest, but it is very barren. Granite is prevalent, and I could find no sandstone. Coming from the westward, we thought the heights about here inconsiderable ; but Cook, coming from the South Sea, called them ' high and savage.' Had he made the land nearer the Barbara Channel, where the mountains are much higher, he would have spoken still more strongly of the wild and disagreeable appearance of the coast, " 6th. During the past night it blew very hard, making our vessel jerk her cables with unusual violence, though we had a good scope out, and the water was perfectly smooth. We saw that the best bower-anchor had been dragged some distance, it Avas therefore hove to the bows when its stock was found to be broken, by a rock, in the midst of good ground, having caught the anchor. It had been obtained at San Carlos from a mer- chant brig, but being much too light for our vessel, had been woulded round with chains to give it weight : its place was taken by a frigate's stream-anchor, well made and well tried, which I had procured from Valparaiso.* In shifting our berth, the small bower chain was found to be so firmly fixed round another rock that for several hours we could not clear it. Such rocks as these are very treacherous and not easily detected, except by sweeping the bottom with a line and weights. A very It had formerly belong-ed to H.M.S, Doris, which was condemned at Valparaiso; being unserviceable.