An historical account of all the voyages round the world, performed by English navigators, vol. 3 of 4: Including those lately undertaken by order of His present Majesty. The whole faithfully extracted from the journals of the voyagers

Mr. Byron was commander in chief, and Captain Mouat had the honour of commanding the frigate under him. They sailed from the Downs on the 21st of June, 1764, but the Dolphin running a-ground, she was put into Plymouth Dock and examined: she had however sustained no injury, and on the 3d of July the Commodore hoisted his broad pendant, and sailed in prosecution of his voyage. On the 30th they anchored in the road of Fonchiale, at the island of Madeira; the Governor of which saluted the Captain with 11 guns, and the compliment was returned. They sailed on the 19th, and on the 21st were in sight of Palma, one of the Canary Islands. Their water having become foul and stinking, they purified it, by forcing a stream of air through it, by means of a kind of ventilator constructed for that purpose. On the 27th and 28th they saw the Canary Islands, and anchored in the bay of Port Praya on the 30th.--Having taken in water, and purchased some fresh provisions, they sailed with all possible expedition, for fear of the tornadoes, which are very common on this coast from August till November.

Most of the crew had purchased monkies, lean goats, and fowls, in exchange for their old jackets, shirts, &c. It had been remarked before, and was now again observed, that no fish would come near the ship, which was attributed to her being sheathed with copper; this was a mortifying circumstance, as there were immense numbers of fish within sight.

On the 13th of September they came to an anchor in the road of Rio de Janeiro, on the coast of Brazil, when the Commodore paid a visit to the Governor, who received him in state, being attended by some persons of distinction, and having many officers, and a Captain’s guard under arms before the palace. Fifteen guns were fired in honour of the English flag; and the Governor afterwards returned the Commodore’s visit on board the Dolphin. Many of the people on board the Tamar being sick, lodgings were provided for them on shore, where they soon recovered; but the crew of the Dolphin kept their health, through the plentiful use of fresh meat and greens.

While the ship lay in this harbour, the Portuguese enticed away nine of the crew of the Tamar, and five from the Dolphin. The former were recovered, by a party sent after them in the night; but the Commodore could never learn where his men were secreted. This practice of kidnapping the English tars is here carried on with impunity; and when all other methods fail, the poor fellows are generally made drunk, and then sent up the country, till the ship to which they belong is sailed. They weighed anchor on the 16th of October, and on the 22d the Commodore informed the crew that they were not bound, as they thought, directly to the East Indies, but on a voyage to make discoveries; and that, on their behaving well, the Lords of the Admiralty had ordered them double pay, and other emoluments. They were transported with this news, declared their willingness to serve their country, and promised obedience to the orders of the Commodore. On the 29th they encountered so violent a storm, that they were obliged to throw four guns overboard: it continued very tempestuous all night, but dying away in the morning, they made sail, and, in 35 degrees 50 minutes south latitude, found the weather most intolerably cold, though it was now the latter end of October, and November in that climate answers to May in England. The sailors now repented the having bartered their old cloaths for eatables; but they were soon re-furnished with the slops that were on board.

The Commodore, on the 2d of November, delivered their commissions to his officers, after they had taken the customary oath. They now beheld vast numbers of pintadoes, and other birds, in flocks about the ship. Observing the colour of the water to be changed, they stood in for land on the 11th of this month, and found ground at the depth of 45 fathom. The next day the men on the forecastle called out, at the same instant, “Land right a-head.” The Commodore looked forward, and saw what he thought an island, composed of two hills, and land joining to it, which ran far to the south-east; but in the end this proved to be only a fog-bank, which vanished on a sudden. These deceptions are not unfrequent: not long since the master of a vessel made oath, that he had seen an island, and trees growing on it, between Newfoundland and the west coast of Ireland; in consequence of which some ships were sent in search of it, but it could never be found.

In the afternoon of the 13th the wind shifted, the sky grew black to windward, and a strange noise was heard, resembling the roaring of the sea on a shallow coast. Hundreds of birds were observed flying from the storm, and shrieking through dreadful apprehension. At length it reached the ship before she was prepared for it, and laid her on her side. The first Lieutenant was beat down by the main sheet, by which some of his teeth were knocked out, and he was otherwise terribly bruised. The main-sail of the Tamar was split; but as she was to leeward of the Dolphin, she had more time to prepare for the threatened storm. The wind continued violent all night, but abated in the morning, when the sea was observed to be covered with a small red fish, like cray-fish, great numbers of which were catched by the ship’s crew.

On the 16th they steered for Cape Blanco, shaping their course agreeable to the chart of it laid down in Anson’s Voyage. On the 17th they saw the Cape, and for two days struggled hard to reach Port Desire; but the description given of it in Narborough’s Voyage is so perplexed, that they were much at a loss. They stood into a bay south of the Cape, but could find no port. On the 20th they saw Penguin Island, and as Port Desire was said to be a few leagues north-west of it, a boat was sent out, which found it. In these seas there were thousands of seals and penguins near the ship. On the 21st they entered the harbour of Port Desire, and the Commodore in his boat, attended by two other boats, went to sound it. Mr. Byron landed, and found the country all one continued down, having neither shrubs or trees. They had a sight of four beasts, near 13 hands high, and in shape like a deer, which they took to be guanicoes. The Commodore having returned to his boat, went higher up the harbour, to an island abounding with seals, more than 50 of which they killed, some of them exceeding the size of an ordinary bullock. They likewise killed a variety of birds, one with a head like an eagle, with a large comb on it, and a white ruff, like a lady’s tippet, round the neck; the feathers on the back were black, and of a most exquisite polish; the legs were large and strong, with talons somewhat like the eagle; the wings being extended, measured no less than 12 feet from their extremities.

On the 21st the Tamar sailed into the harbour with the rising of the tide; but the Dolphin waiting for a wind, ran on shore, where she remained all night, and the next day, in very tempestuous weather. On the 23d they saw the track of a tyger, and several other beasts, and found a nest of ostriches eggs, which proved to be good eating. On the 24th the ships were both properly moored in the harbour, where the water rises no less than 27 feet at spring tides.

The Commodore went on shore this day, and shot a hare weighing 26 pounds, and saw several others as large as fawns. On the 25th he landed again, and found the barrel of an old musquet, with the King’s broad arrow on it, and an old oar of a singular form. The musquet-barrel was so decayed, that it would crumble to dust with the touch. These things, it is probable, were left by the crew of the Wager, or, possibly, by Sir John Narborough.

They here saw the remains of fires, but met with no inhabitants. The only vegetable they found was wild peas. They killed several wild ducks, and shot a ball through the body of a hare, which ran two miles before he dropped: the flesh of this animal is delicious, and as white as snow. Two old guanicoes and a fawn were killed by another party; and some of the former were seen of 300 weight.

The skull and bones of a man having been found, were brought on board; as was likewise a young guanicoe, which was very beautiful, and grew quite tame; but died in a short time. Happily, on the 27th, two springs of tolerable water were found; and on the next day a tun of it was brought on board. The Commodore went again on shore, where such an immense number of birds took flight, as actually darkened the sky, and it was impossible to walk without treading on their eggs. These eggs the men ate, though there were young birds in the greater part of them.

On the 30th some men being sent on shore for water, two of them, who first came to it, saw a tyger lying on the ground, who taking no kind of notice of them, they threw stones at him: still, however, they could not provoke his rage; he waited till the rest came up, and then walked leisurely off. The country near this bay abounds with geese, ducks, widgeon, and sea-pies, besides several birds, the names of which are unknown.

On the 5th of December the ships got under sail, and, during that and the following day, had pleasant weather and a fine gale. They now steered for Pepys’ Isle, which is described as lying in 47 degrees south latitude. The weather was now very clear, and the ships, by spreading from each other, could, between them, command a prospect of 20 leagues. They thus continued their search for this supposed island till the 11th of the month, when the Commodore, convinced that there was no such place, resolved to stand in for the main, to take in wood and water, which began to be much wanted.

Large whales now swam frequently about the ship, and birds flew round them in great numbers. On the 15th the wind blew a perfect hurricane, before which it would have been safest to have ran; but the fear of being driven too far from land, while they were in want of water, determined them to endeavour to weather it, which they did till it abated, which was at eight o’clock the next morning. On the 18th they saw land, which, like that near Port Desire, was of the downy kind without trees. They now observed porpoises, which were milk white, with black spots, pursuing the fish in the sea, of which there were great numbers.

On the 20th they ran close in shore to Cape Virgin Mary; and having observed a smoke on shore, and a number of guanicoes feeding in the vallies, they came to an anchor. The next day they again sailed, and at length anchored about two miles from the shore, near the place where they had seen smoke the preceding day. The Commodore observed a number of men on horse-back, riding to and fro, opposite the ship, and waving something white, which he took to be an invitation to land; and as he was anxious to know what people these were, he went in one boat with a party of men well armed; the first Lieutenant with a separate party following in another. When they came near the shore, they saw a great number of people on horseback, and some on foot, the whole amounting, as they judged, to five hundred; who were drawn up on a stony point of land that ran far into the sea. Though the Commodore did not observe that they had any weapons, he made signs for them to retreat a little, which they readily did, and kept shouting very loud while the crew were landing; which was no sooner done, than they were mustered on the beach, with their officers at their head.