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

1835. DESEllTERS — PADRE FOEASTES. 393 vated ground : but he had no time to make further remarks, for his party was discovered, vigorously attacked and driven back, with loss, to the sea. The old man said the climate and soil of that plain were better than those of Chiloe : and, as a proof of it, he found Indian corn with from five to nine large heads, though in Chiloe the same kind of plant only bears from one to three small heads. A few of the remarks relative to Chiloe, contained in the preceding pages, arose out of an excursion made by me, in 1829, among the neighbouring islands : and many of the other notices mentioned by Captain King (vol. i.) or myself, and given in the narrative as they were received from our associates, were corroborated by what I then witnessed. The excursion alluded to was undertaken in consequence of two carpenters belonging to the Beagle being enticed to desert by a Roman Catholic priest named Forastes, who not only afforded them the means of travelling to Castro and Lemuy, but hid them on his own premises afterwards; and, when he heard that I was seeking for them among the islands, sent them across the gulf of Ancud, in a piragua, to remain in a cove near the Cor- covado until the search should be over. One of these men was not worth taking trouble about ; but the other was a man who had borne a high character, and had a wife and children in England depending upon him for support. I was satisfied that this man (Wells) had not deserted until overcome by extraor- dinary temptation and the evil advice of his companion, and determined to do my utmost to recover him. He had pay due for several years'' service, and his ' servitude time' * was consi- derable. I despatched Mr. Kirke overland to Castro for intelligence and set out in a light whale-boat, with five men, all as eager as I was myself to rescue their shipmate from the deceitful allure- ments of Padre Forastes. As a carpenter, also, every one was well aware, that his recovery was of much consequence to our small vessel, in a place where we could not obtain a substitute. • For the pension granted to seamen in the Royal Navy after twenty- one years' servitude.