Amador ledger., 1908-08-07
THE. CRUISE OF THE
U. S. S. LAWRENCE
From Norfolk, Va. to San Francisco, Cal, via the
Straits of Magellan. Dec. 2, 1907, to May 8, O8
Continued from last week.

(Feb. 4) and we certainly had the
rough trip thought we would. The
weather was horrId, and very cold,
and the sea very rough. l don't
think anybody on board has had any
rest since leaving Buenos Ayres, be
cause in the sea these boats danced
around and plunged so much that
sleep was impossible, aud in order tu
eat you had to do a regular flying
krapeze performance, holding on with
both feet aud one hand and eating
with the other hand. Most of the
"young salts' aboard gave it up as a
bad Job about the second day. They
said "What's the use of eating any
way when it comes-well the inevit-
able result if you are at all addicted
to sea sickness. The weather calmed
down slightly on the morning OF the
4th, and we sighted the lights on
either side of the Straits of Magellan
about $3.50 q. IN. When about 40
miles from the entrance we sighted u
large whale, but we're unable to get
good look at him because there WASH 't
enough light However, day break
down here at this time of the year Is
about 2:30 p. M, and it gets dark
about 80 p. M, while during the
other half it gets light about 9 a. M,
and is dark again by $3.50 p. m.
Entered the Straits about a. M,
and as there is about twenty knot
current running in our direction we
were making about 81 knots until we
reached Punta Arenas. l had the
twelve to four a. m. lookout watch
this morning and witnessed one OF
the most brilliant sunrises | ever
saw. Those up around Rio were
grand, but this one was beyond de-
scription. The Straits from the
Atlantic entrance to Punta Arenas
are not at all attractive, they are
about three miles wide except In two
places called "the narIows." On
both sides are barren mountains
about 1900 to 1000 feet high, and the
only thing worthy of mention until
you reach Punta Arenas is tall,
striped lighthouse on the north
side, which marks the boundary be-
tween Chile and Argentine Republic.
Passed through the first naIrows
about $3.50 and the second about
40 :45 and arrived and anchored of
Punta Arenas about 2:GO.
Punta Arenas is the most southerly
city in the world, and presents a very
peculiar appearance from the water
front. 1t is built on the side of a
mountain, and you can see every
Building from the water, as the back
part of the town is elevated. Nearly
all the buildings are small, one story
affairs, with hardly any paint on
them, and they all have corrugated
iron roots, and although don't sup
pose they we're intended to, but they
present very uniform appearance.
The streets are all crooked and have
no modern improvements. The
population is very cosmopolitan. l
suppose every country in the world
is represented here, but most OF the
people are Germans, Swedes and
tSpigottys, with few Americans
and Italians. There are several snow
capped mountains around, but on the
whole, the surrounding scenery, il
the surrounding country can be call
ed SCENERY, is very bleak, barren,
and uninteresting, but the people on
board who have been all the way
through the Straits say there is big
surprise awaiting us after we pass
Punta Arenas. The principal occupa.
tion in the vicinity of Punta Arenas
is sheep herding, aud there are also
a few gold mines in the interior.
We left Punta Arenas about IL p.
M, February 7th, in company with
the battleships, tn Chilean Cruiser
t'ChacabucO' at the head of the
column plotting. We left at this
anearthIy hour so we could reach the
first dangerous place in the Straits
by daylight.
On the morning after we left. had
the 4 to q. m. lookout watch, and
ON coming up on deck from below the
sight "that burst upon my astonished
vision" with more apologies to
VergiD was simply, we'll com bina
tion of grand, unexoelled, magnificent
and wonderful would about half ex-
press it. For me to attempt to de-
scribe 1t would be- an injustice, how