The Hawaiian gazette., 1908-02-14
ADMIRAL VERY WRITES OF
THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN

I ice cakes. We anchored about an hour
after sunset, which at that season oc-
ours at quarter past six.
On that run, we met at Punta Arenas,
the famous yacht Sunbeam, westbound.
Brassey and his sailing master con-
ferred with the navigator of the Rich
mond, preparatory to planning their
anchorages to be occupied after leaving
Sandy Point. (See the Nineteenth
Century, Vol. XIV, page S23.) And
there too, we saw much of the Chilean
] Governor and his interesting family
all massacred a year or two later, in
an uprising of the convicts.
And it was on that trip that soon
after we made our first anchorage, our
good old doctor announced in his high
pitched voice, ''this is the rainiest spot
on the globe; it has been known to
rain forty-one feet in thirteen hours!"
Shouts of derision went up from his
uHItStutIdle mcSS-lHdleSy WIN peSSCu
him to leone down a foot, doctorl"
or to "make it thirteen years!' But
the doctor was adamant; he declined
to yield an inch, or to extend the time
by one second. When he could make
himself heard above the din, he said
"Iu show you;" and producing
Maury's Physical Geography of the
Sea, he continued "here it is; on page
9S; remarks upon the Andes of Patago-
mia; Captain King found the astonish-
ing fall of water here, of nearly y
and then the doctor said, "Ohi" and
showed a disposition to stop. But he
was in the hands of the mob, who urged
him with cries of Go on" and the
doctor continued; 80 thirteen feet in
forty-one days." After the laughter
and jeers of the youngsters 1--WE were
all youngsters in the wardroom in those
days,) had subsidized sufficiently for him
to be heard, he shouted We'll; 1 got
the figures all right, anyhow" A
year later, we reached st. Thomas,
homeward bound; and soon after an
choring, all who could be spared went
ashore. The old doctor, in the good
ness of his heart gave permission to
his assistant to go; remaining himself
in compliance with the requirement that
one of the two surgeons must be on
board at all times. 1t was early in
October, and official returns were due
for the quarter. ending September 80.
The assistant surgeon had prepared the
medical returns for the signature of
the senior, who soon afterward was
heard amenting;-"There; 1 can't
trust so-and-sO" (naming the junior,
then on shore,) "here he's put a man
under the heading 'diphtheria' when he
ought to be in the 'dipsomania
column Scarcely had he finished his
plant, when a voice from an after
stateroom comforted him with the re-
mark Never mind, doctor; he got the
figures all right, anyhow"
In Harpers Monthly of April, 1865,
pages 547 to SCI, there is an interest
ing account of the trip of the Wateree
through the Strait of Magellan and
Smyth's Channel. She was low
powered double-ended side-wheel gun
boat, of small bunker capacity. Long
before she could reach a coal-pile, her
supply of coal taken on board at Mon
tevideo was exhausted, and she was
compelled to cut wood for fuel. So
long a time elapsed between the report
of her departure from Montevideo and
news of her arrival at Valparaiso, |
(there were no South American cables |
in those days,) that she was given up
as lost. The narrative shows the diff
Guilty of finding a harbor for even so |
small vessel as the Wateree.
Steamers of light draft make use of
Smyth s Channel to extend their
smooth-Water run, and to avoid the |
heavy seas and persistent gales which
are encountered in the vicinity of
Cape Pillar and to the northward; but
there is over much risk for deep drafts,
particularly toward the northern end
of Smyth IS Channel. As far back as
the early '7O's the Pacific Steam Navi-
cation Company, whose steamers ran
between Liverpool and Callao, restrict
ed their masters to the Strait proper;
them from using the inner
passages between Cape lamar and the
Gulf of Penas. The distance through
the Strait of Magellan is between $50
and 375 miles; through the western
(Smyth's, Sarmiento and
Messier,) perhaps 500 more; strong
ndueement for a low-powered, light
lraft vessel to make use of them. But