The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-12-29
The Demon
OF the Strait
AnExperience In Round
ing the Horn
By F. A. mitchell

globe south of the equator, each of
| which has from time immemorial been
! terror to mariners. The Cape of
Good Hope divides the Atlantic and
| Pacific oceans at one point and Cape
Horn divides them at another. 1t Is a
question which of these capes is the
more difficult to round by sailors. Good
Hope was in early times called the
cape of storms. The Portuguese. who
were then great seamen, tried for six
| ty-nine years to round 1t without sue
cess. 1t was first rounded by VascO
da Cana in 1897.
My own experience is with Cape !
Horn, and can only say that If Good
Hope is any worse am quite willing
to let it alone. There is an additional
danger to mariners rounding the Horn
in this The passage is usually made
through the strait Of Magellan. the
shores Of which are inhabited by the
TERRA del Fuegans, who are the low
est race of men on the face of the
earth. So barbarous are they that they
do not worship any divinity. OF course
they know nothing Of morals, and muir
der for booty is with them a matter of
no moment whatever.
In 1S9- l sailed from Montevideo
with a cargo of miscellaneous articles
for Valparaiso. The ship, the Wasp,
was a little hundred ton schooner, and
my crew consisted Of but one man be-
sides myself. l aimed to pass through
the strait in the month Of October,
which In the southern corresponds to
April in the northern hemisphere. If
there was any of the. ethereal mildness
of spring In that region I hoped to
get 1t.
" We entered the narrow waters after
rounding Cape Vergin. We had no
sooner turned the Wasp from south tc
west than we were received by the
demon Of the strait, a storm Of sleet
and snow, that drove us back into thu
Atlantic, and we were a week getting
, again to the point from which we hat
been driven.
As we entered the strait secont
III
expedients the demon uses to keep maj
liners from trespassing on his domain
The first were two tide races, whic
met, but did not mingle. Instead the.
fought each other, and the Wasp wa
caught between them. We had take
In one reef and In trying to lower
staysail my crew was washed ovel
board. 1t would have been useless
try to 60 about and pick him up
such boiling waters. I threw lin
to him, but he failed to grasp it.
l suppose 1t was the ugliness Of col
tention that led me to keep on withor
turning back, though l would be n
ing than going forward. was temp
ed to the former course, but as 500
as l got past the tide races I struC
calm water, and, with a favorab
breeze and boiling sea behind me,
looked easier to go forward than bacl
nm ward. The demon was Turing me on.
Oll I had sailed no great distance whe
Hill the wind began to blow gale
|Il seemed to me from all directions
Hill once. found anchorage at the TO
Hin of mountain, where there was
Mn dead calm. But l had not got ha
lH rested when down came gust Of VIII
tbH called in that region williwan.
l||l have given these samples Of VIII
I|H l experienced all along my voyai
lllH through the strait to show what e
lIttl countered from winds and waters. N
W." chief danger in making the passai
was the savages. They inhabit'
both the north and south shores, and
was obliged to look out for them
all occasions. / had brought sever
rifles along, and. having met man
Montevideo who had had experien
in the strait, he advised me to PROVE
myself with a stock of lacks to scf
ter on deck at night. in case ] and II
crew should both be asleep at the sar
time, to warn me If we were board
by savages. After losing my only mi
overheard these defensive weapo
! seemed to me to be doubly valuable.
| The first sight had Of the Fuega
| was one morning when | was sailil
in smooth water in narrow passa
| between the northern mainland and
| III island. | saw cdnOe pduuIeu ny 90
| ages heading to cut me off. In d
weather / kept rife on deck and no
| laying my hand ON it. brought it to
/ shoulder and fired a shot across t
bows of the canoe. The Fuegans ste
ped padding and approached no ne;
err the line on which | was sailing.
! Il hoped to be able to get through
| strait without killing any one, for
p spirit of cupidity was enough for /
to contend with without exciting
. venge. was much relieved, thereto
when | saw that / had scared OF el
p mics who, in order to appropriate wi
I possessed, would not have hesitat
= to murder me if they could.
n One evening when laid up in ca
water I was taken ILL., | took the
caution before getting into my bu
to protect myself against boarders
scattering lacks over the deck.
Is brought with me supply OF medi
sxaI frecf 1Ta n