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

124 GALES DIEGO RAMIREZ. Jail. At sun-set, there was a reddish appearance all over the sky — clouds shot over the summits of the mountains in ragged detached masses — and there was a lurid haze around, which showed a coming storm as surely as a fall of the barometer. The gale increased, and at midnight such furious squalls came down from the heights, that the water was swept up, and clouds of foam were driven along the sea. Although we were close to a weather shore, with our top-gallant masts down and yards braced sharp up, we hardly thought ourselves in secu- rity with three anchors down and plenty of chain cable out.* Dec. 31. Tired and impatient at the delay caused by bad weather, we put to sea again the first day there was a hope of not being driven eastward ; and during a fortnight we tried hard to work our way towards Christmas Sound. My purpose was to land York Minster and Fuegia Basket among their own people, near March Harbour, and return eastward through the Beagle Channel, landing Jemmy Button also with his tribe, the Tekeenica. Part of Whale-boat Sound and the wes- tern arms of the Beagle Channel were to be surveyed : and by this scheme I proposed to combine both objects. Jan. 2d. We were rather too near the Diego Ramirez Islands, during a fresh gale of wind, with much sea ; but by carrying a heavy press of sail, our good little ship weathered them cleverly, going from seven and a half to eight knots an hour, under close-reefed topsails and double-reefed courses the top-gallant-masts being on deck. On the 5th, the same islands were again under our lee — sufficient evidence that we did not make westincr. In fact, no sooner did we get a few reefs out, than we began taking them * Durinjj; such sudden, and at times tremendous squalls as these, it is absolutely necessary to have a long scope of cable out, although the ves- sel may be in smooth water, in order that the first fury of the blast may be over before the cable is strained tight ; for otherwise, the chain or anchor might snap. When the violence of the squall is past, the weight of a chain cable sinking down, draws the ship a-head, so far as to admit of her recoiling again at the next williwaw ; thus, a kind of elasticity may be given to a chain, in some degree equivalent to that always possessed bv a hemp cable.