Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

1832. ST. MARTIN COVE— CONTRAST. 123 passing Cape Spencer we were assailed by such a furious hail- squall, that for many minutes it was quite impossible to look to windward, or even to see what was a-head of us. We could not venture to wear round, or even heave to, for fear of getting so far to leeward as to lose our chance of obtaining an anchorage however, we stood on at hazard, and the squall passed away soon enough to admit of our anchoring in seventeen-fathoms water, quite close to a steep promontory at the south side of St. Martin Cove. After being for some time accustomed to the low barren shores and shallow harbours of the Pampa and Patagonian coasts, our position almost under this black precipice was sin- gularly striking. The decided contrast of abrupt, high, and woody mountains, rising from deep water, had been much remarked in Good Success Bay; but here it was so great that I could hardly persuade myself that the ship was in security — sufficiently far from the cliff.* 25th. Notwithstanding violent squalls, and cold damp weather, we kept our Christmas merrily ; certainly, not the less so, in consequence of feeling that we were in a secure posi- tion, instead of being exposed to the effects of a high sea and heavy gale. I said, that " I do not think the bay adjacent to Cape Horn is that which was named by D'Arquistade, ' St. Francis,' and, if my supposition is correct, Port Maxwell is not the place which was called ' St. Bernard's Cove.' " If the modern chart be compared with that issued by the Admiralty a few years ago, published by Faden in 1818, it will be seen that the par. ticular plan of St. Francis Bay, given in Faden's chart, agrees much better with the west side of Nassau Bay than with any other place ; and that the " remarkable island, like a castle," noticed in the plan, is evidently " Packsaddle Island," of the modern chart. The rough sketch of land towards the north and east, as far as Cape Horn, on that plan, I take to be the random outline of land seen at a distance by the person who drew the plan, and the name " Cape Horn," aflSxed to the southernmost land then in sight; which must have been Cape Spencer. But it is now too late to remedy the mistake, which is indeed of no consequence. • As the shores of Tierra del Fuego are so much spoken of in other places, I say no more of them here.