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Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3. The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century

At the end of fifteen days the repairs of the Mercury were completed. While they were going on, the negotiation with the General Knox was terminated by a positive refusal on the part of Freycinet to agree to the extravagant terms proposed by the American captain. It took several days to come to a settlement with Captain Galvin, who finally made the following agreement.

1. Captain Galvin engaged to convey to Rio the wrecked persons, their papers, collections, and instruments, as well as all the cargo saved out of the Uranie that could be got on board.

2. Freycinet and his people were during the passage to subsist entirely on the provisions set apart for them.

3. That the captain was to receive the sum of 97,740 francs within ten days of their arrival at Rio. By the acceptance of these truly extortionate conditions a bargain, which had cost much dispute, was finally settled.

Before leaving the Falklands, however, the naturalist, Gaudichaud, planted its destitute shores with several sorts of vegetables, which he thought likely to be of service to future voyagers who might be detained there.

A few particulars regarding this archipelago will not be without interest. The group, lying between 50° 57', and 52° 45' S. latitude, and 60° 4', 63° 48' west of the meridian of Paris, consists of several islets and two principal islands, named Conti and Maidenland. Berkeley Sound, situated in the extreme east of the Conti Island, is a wide opening, rather deep than extensive, with a shelving rocky coast. The temperature of the islands is milder than one would expect from the high latitude. Snow does not fall in any great quantity, and does not remain even on the summits of the highest hills longer than for about two months. The streams are never frozen, and the lakes and marshes are never covered with ice hard enough to bear the weight of a man, for more than twenty-four hours consecutively. From the observations of Weddell, who visited these parts between 1822 and 1824, the temperature must have risen considerably during the last forty years in consequence of a change in the direction taken by the icebergs which melt away in the mid-Atlantic. M. Quoy, the naturalist, judging from the shallowness of the sea between the Falkland Islands and South America, as well as the resemblance of their grassy plains to the pampas of Buenos Ayres, is of opinion that they once formed part of the continent. These plains are low, marshy, covered with tall grass and shrubs, and are inundated in the winter. Peat is abundant and makes excellent fuel. The character of the soil has proved an obstacle to the growth of the trees which Bougainville endeavoured to acclimatize, of which scarce a vestige remained at the time of Freycinet's visit. The plant which reaches the greatest height and grows most plentifully is a species of sword-grass, excellent food for cattle, and serving also as a place of shelter to numbers of seals and multitudes of gulls. It is this high grass which sailors have taken from a distance for bushes. The only vegetables growing on these islands of any use to man are celery, scurvy-grass, watercress, dandelion, raspberries, sorrel, and pimpernel.

Both French and Spanish colonists had at different times imported into these islands oxen, horses, and pigs, which had multiplied to a singular extent in the island of Conti; but the persistent hunting of them by the crews of the whaling ships must tend to considerably reduce their numbers. The only quadruped indigenous to the Falkland Islands is the Antarctic dog, the muzzle of which strikingly resembles that of the fox. It has therefore had the name dog-fox, or wolf-fox, given to it by whalers. These animals are so fierce that they rushed into the water to attack Byron's sailors. They, however, find rabbits enough, whose reproductive powers are limitless, to satisfy them; but the seals, which the dogs attack without any fear, manage to escape from them.

The Mercury set sail on the 28th of April, 1821, to convey Freycinet and his crew to the port of Rio de Janeiro. But one point Captain Galvin had failed to take into his reckoning, – his ship, equipped under the flag of the Independent State of Buenos Ayres, then at war with the Portuguese, would be seized on entering the harbour of Rio, and he himself with all his crew would be made prisoners. On this he endeavoured to make Freycinet cancel the engagement between them, hoping to prevail on him to land at Monte Video. But as Freycinet would not agree to this proposal on any ground, a new contract had to be substituted for the original one. According to the latter arrangement Freycinet became proprietor of the Mercury on behalf of the French navy by payment of the sum stipulated under the first contract. The ship was renamed the Physicienne, and reached Monte Video on the 8th of May, where the command was taken over by Freycinet. The stay at Monte Video was made use of for arming the vessel, arranging its trim, repairing the rigging, taking on board the supply of water and provisions requisite for the trip to Rio de Janeiro; before reaching which port, however, several serious defects in the ship had been discovered. The appearance of the Physicienne was so distinctly mercantile that on entering the port of Rio, though the flag of a man-of-war was flying at the masthead, the customs officers were deceived and proposed to inspect her as a merchant-vessel. Extensive repairs were absolutely necessary, and the making of them compelled Freycinet to remain at Rio until the 18th of September. He was then able to take his departure direct for France; and on the 13th of November, 1820, he cast anchor in the port of Havre, after an absence of three years and two months, during which time he had sailed over 18,862 nautical miles.

A few days after his return, Freycinet proceeded to Paris, suffering from a severe illness, and forwarded to the secretary of the Academy of Sciences the scientific records of the voyage, which made no less than thirty-one quarto volumes. At the same time, the naturalists attached to the expedition, MM. Quoy, Gaimard, and Gaudichaud, submitted the specimens which they had collected. Among these were four previously unknown species of mammiferous animals, forty-five of fishes, thirty of reptiles, besides rare kinds of molluscs, polypes, annelides, &c., &c.

The rules of the French service required that Freycinet should be summoned before a council of war to answer for the loss of his ship. The trial terminated in a unanimous verdict of acquittal from all blame, the council expressing at the same time their hearty acknowledgment of the energy and ability displayed by the commander, approving, moreover, the skilful and careful measures he had taken to remedy the disastrous results of his shipwreck. A few days after, being received by the king, Louis XVIII., his Majesty, accompanying him to the door, said, "You entered here the captain of a frigate, you depart the captain of a ship of the line. Offer me no thanks; reply in the words used by Jean Bart to Louis XIV., 'Sire, you have done well!'"

From that time Freycinet devoted himself entirely to the task of publishing the notes of his travels. The meagre account which has been given here will serve to show how extensive these notes were. But the extreme conscientiousness of the explorer prevented him from publishing anything which was not complete, and he was bent on placing his work in advance of the recognized boundaries of knowledge at that date. Even the mere classification of the vast quantity of material which he had collected during his voyage demanded a large expenditure of time. Thus it was that when surprised by death on the 18th of August, 1842, he had not put the last finishing touch to one of the most curious and novel divisions of his work, that relating to the languages of Oceania with special reference to that of the Marianne Islands.

At the close of the year 1821 the Marquis de Clermont Tonnerre, then Minister of Marine, received the scheme of a new voyage from two young officers, MM. Duperrey and Dumont d'Urville. The former, second in command to Freycinet on board the Uranie, after having rendered valuable assistance to the expedition by his scientific researches and surveys, had within the year returned to France; the other, the colleague of Captain Garnier, had brought himself into notice during the hydrographical cruises in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, which it had fallen to Captain Garnier to complete. He had a fine taste for botany and art, and had been one of the first to draw attention to the artistic value of the Venus of Milos which had just been discovered. These two young savants proposed in the plan submitted by them to make special researches into three departments of natural science – magnetism, meteorology, and the configuration of the globe. "In the geographical department," said Duperrey, "we would propose to verify or to rectify, either by direct, or by chronometrical observations, the position of a great number of points in different parts of the globe, especially among the numerous island groups of the Pacific Ocean, notorious for shipwrecks, and so remarkable for the character and the form of the shoals, sandbanks, and reefs, of which they in part consist; also to trace new routes through the Dangerous Archipelago and the Society Islands, side by side with those taken by Quiros, Wallis, Bougainville, and Cook; to carry on hydrographical surveys in continuation of those made in the voyages of D'Entrecasteaux and of Freycinet in Polynesia, New Holland, and the Molucca Islands; and particularly to visit the Caroline Islands, discovered by Magellan, about which, with the exception of the eastern side, examined in our own time by Captain Kotzebue, we have only very vague information, communicated by the missionaries, and by them learnt from stories told by savages who had lost their way and were driven in their canoes upon the Marianne Islands. The languages, character, and customs of these islanders must also receive special and careful attention."

The naval doctors, Garnon and Lesson, were placed in charge of the natural history department, whilst the staff was composed of officers most remarkable for their scientific attainments, among whom may be mentioned MM. Lesage, Jacquinot, Bérard, Lottin, De Blois, and De Blosseville.

The Academy of Sciences took up the plan of research submitted by the originators of this expedition with much enthusiasm, and furnished them with minute instructions, in which were set forth with care the points on which accurate scientific information was especially desirable. At the same time the instruments supplied to the explorers were the most finished and complete of their kind.

The vessel chosen for the expedition was the Coquille, a small ship, not drawing more than from twelve to thirteen feet of water, which was lying in ordinary at Toulon. The time spent in refitting, stowing the cargo, arming the ship, prevented the expedition from starting earlier than the 11th of August, 1822. The island of Teneriffe was reached on the 28th of the same month, and there the officers hoped to be able to make a few gleanings after the rich harvest of knowledge which their predecessors had reaped; but the Council of Health in the island, having received information of an outbreak of yellow fever on the shores of the Mediterranean, imposed on the Coquille a quarantine of fifteen days. It happened, however, that at that period political opinion was in a state of fervid excitement at Teneriffe, and party spirit ran so high in society that the inhabitants found it hard to come together without also coming to blows. Under these circumstances it is easy to imagine that the French officers did not indulge in violent regrets over the privations which they had to sustain. The eight days during which their stay at Teneriffe lasted were given up exclusively to the revictualling of the ship, and to magnetic and astronomical observations.

Towards the end of September anchor was weighed, and on the 6th of October the work of surveying the islands of Martin-Vaz and of Trinidad was commenced. The former are nothing more than bare rocks rising out of the sea, of a most forbidding aspect. The island of Trinidad is high land, rugged and barren, with a few trees crowning the southern point. This island is none other than the famous Ascençao – now called Ascension – which for three centuries had been the object of exploring research. In 1700 it was taken possession of by the celebrated Halley in the name of the English Government, but it had to be ceded to the Portuguese, who formed a settlement there. La Pérouse found it still in existence at the same place in 1785. The settlement, which turned out expensive and useless, was abandoned a short time after the visit just referred to, and the island was left in the occupation of the dogs, pigs, and goats, whose progenitors had entered the island in company with the early colonists.

When he left the island of Trinidad, Duperrey purposed to steer a direct course for the Falkland Islands; but an accidental damage, in the repair of which no time was to be lost, compelled him to alter his course for the island of St. Catherine, where only he could obtain without any delay the wood required for new yards and masts, as well as provisions, which from their abundance could there be bought very cheap. As he drew near to the island he was delighted with the grand and picturesque scene presented by its dense forests, where laurel-trees, sassafras, cedars, orange-trees, and mangroves intermingled with banana and other palms, with their feathery foliage waving gracefully in the breeze. Just four days before the corvette anchored off St. Catherine, Brazil had cast off the authority of the mother-country, and declared its independence by the proclamation of Prince Don Pedro d'Alcantara as Emperor. This led the commander to despatch a mission consisting of MM. d'Urville, de Blosseville, Gabert, and Garnot to the capital of the island, Nossa-Senhora-del-Desterro, to make inquiries about the political change, and learn how far it might modify the friendly relations of the country with France. It appeared that the administration of the province was in the hands of a Junto, but orders were at once given to allow the French travellers to cut what wood they might stand in need of, and the Governor of the Fort of Santa Cruz was requested to further the scientific inquiries of the Expedition by all the means at his command. As to provisions, however, there was considerable difficulty, for the merchants had transferred their funds to Rio, in apprehension of what the political change might result in. It is probable that this circumstance accounts for the commander of the Coquille finding the course of business not run smooth in a port which had received the warm recommendations of Captains Kruzenstern and Kotzebue.

The narrative of the travellers states that "the inhabitants were living in expectation of the island being shortly attacked with the view to recolonization, which they considered would be tantamount to their enslavement. The decree issued on the 1st August, 1822, calling on all Brazilians to arm themselves for the defence of their shores and proclaiming under all circumstances a war of partisans had given rise to these fears. The measures which Prince Don Pedro propounded were equally generous and vigorous, and had created a favourable opinion of his character and of his desire to promote freedom. Full of confidence in his purposes, the strong party in favour of independence were filled with enthusiasm expressing itself all the more boisterously as for so long a time their fervid aspirations had been kept under restraint. They now gave open demonstration of their joy by making the towns of Nossa-Senhora-del-Desterro, Laguna, and San Francisco one blaze of light with their illuminations, and marching through the streets singing verses in honour of Don Pedro."

But the excitement which had been thus strikingly manifested in the towns was not shared by the quiet peace-loving dwellers in the rural districts, to whose breasts political passion was an entire stranger. And there cannot be a doubt that, if Portugal had been in a position to enforce her decrees by the despatch of a fleet, the province would have been easily reconquered.

The Coquille set sail again on the 30th October. When to the east of Rio de la Plata she was caught in one of those formidable gales, there called pampero, but had the good fortune to weather it without sustaining any damage.

While in this part of the ocean Duperrey made some interesting observations on the current of the Plate River. Freycinet had already established the fact of its flowing at the rate of two miles and a half an hour, at a distance of a hundred leagues to the east of Monte Video. It was reserved to the commander of the Coquille to ascertain that the current is sensibly felt at a much greater distance; he proved moreover that the water of the river resisted by that of the ocean is forcibly divided into two branches running in the direction of the two banks of the river at its mouth; and finally he accounts for the comparative shallowness of the sea down to the shores of the Magellan Strait by the immense residuum of earth held in suspension by the waters of the La Plata and deposited daily along the coast of South America.

Before entering Berkeley Sound the Coquille, driven by a favourable breeze, passed immense shoals of whales and dolphins, flocks of gulls and numerous flying fish, the ordinary tenants of those tempestuous regions. The Falkland Isles were reached, and Duperrey with a few of his fellow-travellers felt a lively pleasure at revisiting the land which had been to them a place of refuge for three months after their shipwreck in the Uranie. They paid a visit to the spot where the camp had been pitched. The remains of the corvette were almost entirely imbedded in sand, and what was visible of it bore marks of the appropriations which had been made by the whalers who had followed them in that place. On all sides were scattered miscellaneous fragments, carronades with the knobs broken off, pieces of the rigging, tattered clothes, shreds of sails, unrecognizable rags, mingled with the bones of the animals which the castaways had killed for food. "This scene of our recent calamity," Duperrey observes, "wore an aspect of desolation which was rendered still gloomier by the barrenness of the land and the dark rainy weather prevailing at the time of our visit. Nevertheless, it had for us an inexplicable sort of attraction and left a melancholy impression on our minds, which was not effaced till long after we had left the Falkland Islands well behind us."

The stay of Duperrey at the Falklands was prolonged to the 17th December. He took up his residence in the midst of the ruins of the settlement founded by Bougainville, in order to execute certain repairs which the condition of his vessel required. The crew provided themselves by fishing and hunting with an ample supply of food; everything necessary was found in abundance, except fruit and vegetables; and having laid in abundant stores, all prepared to confront the dangers of the passage round Cape Horn.

At first the Coquille had to struggle against strong winds from the south-west and violent currents; these were succeeded by squalls and hazy weather until the island of Mocha was reached on the 19th January, 1823. Of this island a brief mention has already been made. Duperrey places it in 38° 20' 30" S. lat., and 76° 21' 55" W. long., and reckons it to be about twenty-four miles in circumference. Consisting of a chain of mountains of moderate elevation, sloping down towards the sea, it was the rendezvous of the early explorers of the Pacific. It furnished the ships touching there, now a merchantman, now a pirate, with horses and with wild pigs, the flesh of which had a well-known reputation for delicacy of flavour. Here was also a good supply of pure fresh water, as well as of some European fruits, such as apples, peaches, and cherries, the growth of trees planted here by those who first took possession of the island. In 1823, however, these resources had all but disappeared, through the wasteful practices of improvident whalers. At no great distance might be seen the two round eminences which mark the mouth of the river Bio-Bio, the small island of Quebra-Ollas, and that of Quiriquina, and, these passed, the Bay of Conception opened to view, where was a solitary English whaler about to double the Cape, to which was entrusted the correspondence for home, as well as the notes of the work that had already been accomplished.

On the day after the arrival of the Coquille, as soon as the morning sun had lit up the bay, the melancholy and desolate appearance of the place, which had taken every one by surprise on the previous evening, became still more depressing. The name of the town was Talcahuano; and the picture it presented was one of houses in ruins and silent streets. A few wretched canoes, ready to fall to pieces, were on the beach; near them loitered a few poorly clad fishermen; while in front of the tumble-down cottages and roofless huts sat women in rags employed in combing one another's hair. In contrast with this human squalor, the surrounding hills and woods, the gardens and the orchards, were clothed in the most splendid foliage; on every side flowers displayed their gorgeous colours, and fruits proclaimed their ripeness in tints of gold.

Overhead a glowing sun, a sky without a cloud, completed the bitter irony of the spectacle. All this ruin, desolation, and wretchedness were the outward and visible signs of a series of revolutions. At St. Catherine the French travellers had been witnesses of the declaration of Brazilian independence; on the opposite side of the continent they were spectators of the downfall of Director O'Higgins. This official had evaded the summons of the Congress, had sacrificed the interests of the agricultural community to those of the traders and merchants, by the imposition of direct taxes and the lowering of customs duties; was openly accused, as well as his ministers, of peculation; and as the result of all this malversation the greater part of the population had risen in revolt. The movement against O'Higgins was led by a General D. Ramon Freire y Serrano, who gave formal assurances to the explorers that the political disturbance should be no impediment to the revictualling of the Coquille.

On the 26th January two corvettes arrived at Conception. They brought a regiment under the command of a French official, Colonel Beauchef, who came to assist General Freire. The regiment, which had been organized by the exertions of Colonel Beauchef, was in point of steadiness, discipline, and knowledge of drill, one of the smartest in the Chilian army.

On the 2nd February the officers of the Coquille proceeded to Conception, to pay a visit to General Freire. The nearer they approached the city the more fields were lying waste, the more ruined houses were seen, the fewer people were visible, while their clothing had almost reached the vanishing-point. At the entrance of the town itself stood a mast, with the head of a notorious bandit affixed to the top, one Benavidez, a ferocious savage, more wild beast than man, whose name was long execrated in Chili for the horrible atrocities he had committed.

The interior of the town was found as desolate in appearance as the approach to it. Having been set fire to by each party that had successively been victorious, Conception was nothing more than a heap of ruins, amongst which loitered a little remnant of scantily clothed inhabitants, the wretched residuum of a once flourishing population. Grass was growing in the streets, the bishop's palace and the cathedral were the only buildings still standing, and these, roofless and gutted, would not be able much longer to resist the dilapidating influence of the climate.

General Freire, before placing himself in opposition to O'Higgins, had arranged a peace with the Araucanians, an indigenous tribe distinguished for their bravery, who had not only maintained their own independence but were always ready, when opportunity offered, to encroach on the Spanish territory. Some of these natives were employed as auxiliary troops in the Chilian army. Duperrey saw them, and, having obtained from General Freire and Colonel Beauchef trustworthy information, has given a not very flattering description of them, of which the substance shall be here given.

The Araucanians are of an ordinary stature, in complexion copper-coloured, with small, black, vivacious eyes, a rather flat nose, and thick lips; the result of which is an expression of brutal ferocity. Divided into tribes, each one jealous of another, all animated by an unbridled lust of plunder, and ever on the move, their lives are spent in perpetual warfare. The mounted Araucanian is armed with a long lance, a long cutlass, sabre-shaped, called a "Machete,"¹⁵ and the lasso, in the use of which they are extremely expert, while the horse he rides is usually swift.

"Sometimes they are known," says Duperrey, "to receive under their protection vanquished enemies and become their defenders; but the motive prompting them to this seemingly generous conduct is always one of special vindictiveness; the fact being that their real object is the total extermination of some tribe allied with the opposite party. Among themselves hatred is the ruling passion; it is the only enduring bond of fidelity. All display undoubted courage, spirit, recklessness, implacability towards their enemies, whom they massacre with a shocking insensibility. Haughty in manner and revengeful in disposition, they treat all strangers with unqualified suspicion, but they are hospitable and generous to all whom they take as friends. All their passions are easily excited, but they are inordinately sensitive with regard to their liberty and their rights, which they are ever ready to defend sword in hand. Never forgetting an injury, they know not how to forgive; nothing less than the life-blood of their enemies can quench their thirst for vengeance."

Duperrey pledges himself to the truth of the picture which he has here drawn of these savage children of the Andes, who at least deserve the credit of having from the sixteenth century to the present day managed to preserve their independence against the attacks of all invaders.

After the departure of General Freire, and the troops he led away with him, Duperrey took advantage of the opportunity to get his vessel provisioned as quickly as possible. The water and the biscuits were soon on board; but longer time was necessary to procure supplies of coal, which, however, was to be got without any other expense save that of paying the muleteers, who transported it to the beach from a mine scarcely beneath the level of the earth, where it was to be picked up for nothing.

Although the events happening at Conception during the detention there of the Coquille were far from being cheerful, the prevailing depression could not hold out against the traditional festivities of the Carnival. Dinners, receptions, and balls recommenced, and the departure of the troops made itself felt only in the paucity of cavaliers. The French officers, in acknowledgment of the hospitable welcome offered to them, gave two balls at Talcahuano, and several families came from Conception for the sole purpose of being present at them.

Unfortunately, Duperrey's narrative breaks off at the date of his quitting Chili, and there is no longer any official record from which to gather the details of a voyage so interesting and successful. Far from being able to trace step by step from original documents the course of the expedition, as has been done in the case of other travellers, we are obliged in our turn to epitomize other epitomes now lying before us. It is an unpleasing task; as little agreeable to the reader as it is difficult for the writer, who, while bound to respect facts, is no longer able to enliven his narrative with personal observations, and the generally lively stories of the travellers themselves. However, some few of the letters of the navigator to the Minister of Marine have been published, from which have been extracted the following details.

On the 15th February, 1823, the Coquille set sail from Conception for Payta, the place where, in 1595, Alvarez de Mendana and Fernandez de Quiros took ship on the voyage of discovery that has made their names famous; but after a fortnight's sail the corvette was becalmed in the vicinity of the island of Laurenzo, and Duperrey resolved to put in at Callao to obtain fresh provisions. It need not be said that Callao is the port of Lima; so the officers could not lose the opportunity of paying a visit to the capital of Peru. They were not fortunate in the time of their visit. The ladies were away for sea-bathing at Miraflores, and the men of most distinction in the place had gone with them. The travellers were thus compelled to rest content with an inspection of the chief residences and public buildings of the city, returning to Callao on the 4th March. On the 9th of the same month the Coquille anchored at Payta.

The situation of this place between the terrestrial and magnetic equators was most favourable for conducting observations on the variations of the magnetic needle. The naturalists also made excursions to the desert of Pierra, where they collected specimens of petrified shells imbedded in a tertiary stratum precisely similar to that in the suburbs of Paris. As soon as all the sources of scientific interest at Payta had been exhausted the Coquille resumed her voyage, setting sail for Otaheite. During the sail thither a circumstance occurred which might have materially delayed the progress of the expedition, if not have led to its total destruction. On the night of the 22nd April, the Coquille being in the waters of the Dangerous Archipelago, the officer of the watch all at once heard the sound of breakers dashing over reefs. He immediately made the ship lie to, and at daybreak the peril which had been escaped became manifest. At the distance of barely a mile and a half from the corvette lay a low island, well wooded, and fringed with rocks along its entire extent. A few people lived on it, some of whom approached the vessel in a canoe, but none of them would venture on board. Duperrey had to give up all thoughts of visiting the island, which received the name of Clermont-Tonnerre. On all sides the waves broke violently on the rocks, and he could do no more than coast it from end to end at a little distance.