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

APPENDIX. 17g Sharp says, " we bore up for a harbour, and steered in northward about five leagues. On the north side there are plenty of harbours." " At eleven in the forenoon they came to an anchor in a harbour in forty-five fathoms, within a stone's cast of the shore, where the ship was land-locked and in smooth water. As the ship went in, one of the crew, named Henry Shergall, fell overboard as he was going into the spritsail top, and was drowned ; on which account this was named ShergaU's Harbour." The bottom was rocky where the ship had anchored ; a boat was therefore sent to look for better anchorage. They did not, however, shift their berth that day ; and during the night, strong flurries of wind from the hills, joined with the sharpness of the rocks at the bottom, cut their cable in two, and they were obliged to set sail. They ran about a mUe to another bay, where they let go another anchor, and moored the ship with a fastening to a tree on shore. They shot geese, and other \Adld-fowl. On the shores they found large muscles, cockles like those in England, and limpets : here were also penguins,* which were shy, and not taken without pursuit ; "they paddled on the water with their wings very fast, but their bodies were too heavy to be carried by the said wings." The first part of the time they lay in this harbour, they had almost continual rain. On the night of the 15th, in a high north wind, the tree to which their cable was fastened gave way, and came up by the root, in con- sequence of which, the stern of the ship took the ground and damaged the rudder. They secured the ship afresh by fastening the cable to other trees ; but were obliged to unhang the rudder to repair. The 18th was a day of clear weather. The latitude was observed 50° 40' S. The difference of the rise and fall of the tide was seven feet perpendicular : the time of high- water is not noted. The arm of the sea, or gulf, in which they were, they named the English Gulf and the land forming the harbour, the Duke of York's Island ; " more by guess than any thing else ; for whether it were an island or con- tinent was not discovered." Ringrose says, " I am persuaded that the place where we now are, is not so great an island as some hydrographers do lay it down, but rather an archipelago of smaller islands. Our captain gave to them the name of the Duke of York's Islands. Our boat which went east- ward found several good bays and harbours, with deep water close to the shore ; but there lay in them several sunken rocks, as there did * Steamer ducks. Penguins swim like fish. — R. F.