CHAPTER TWO.
OUTWARD BOUND.
Nearly a week after this we were on board the _Inca_, silently glidingdown the Thames, the only voices heard on board being that of the pilotor the officers who repeated his orders. We had a quick run downChannel, and Captain Byles said he should not be surprised if, afterall, we should reach the Equator before the Portuguese ship. I foundthat several of the crew had been on board when I came to England, Samthe black cook among the number. He was the only one, however, whoremembered Ellen and me. I inquired after my old friend the goat.
"What! you remember her, Massa Harry!" exclaimed Sam. "Dat good. Goatgone to live on shore; eat fresh grass instead of hay!"
He was well pleased to find that I had remembered the dumb animal, andstill more so that I had not forgotten him. Sam told me that he hadbecome a Christian since I had seen him. I told him I thought that hewas so then.
"Berry different, Massa Harry, between what is called Christian and realChristian. One night I was on shore, and not knowing where I go, I turninto small chapel where a man talk to de people, and I heard him say,`God lubs you!' He lubs bad man and bad woman, and black man, and brownman, and white man all de same. Him pure, holy God, and no bad, impure,unholy person dwell wid him; and all men ever born unholy, impure, andso dey must all be punished. But he say he let One be punished for deoders, and so him sent his Son into de world to suffer for dem, and datebery one who trust dat Son, and lub him, go free, and come and live widhim for ever and ever. You ask how dat is. Hear God's words: `God soloved de world dat he gave his only-begotten Son, dat whosoeverbelieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.' Oh, he is akind, good, merciful God! Him hear de prayers of all who come unto him.Him no want any one to say prayers for dem; but dey may come boldlyt'rough Jesus Christ, and he hear black man pray, and brown man pray,and leetle child pray, just as well as learned white man; and so when Ihear dis I say, `Dat just de God for me;' and so I go to de minister--dat is de man who was preaching--and he tell me a great deal more; and Igo ebery day I was ashore, and now I bery happy, because I know dat whenI die dere is One who has taken my sins upon himself, who was punishedinstead of me who paid de great debt I owed to God."
I have tried to give Sam's remarks as nearly as I can in his words.They made a great impression on me; for before I must own that I did notunderstand God's simple plan of salvation. Sam had a Bible, which hewas constantly reading, and delighted to explain to the crew. He hadgained considerable influence with them, and though many were careless,and did not listen to him, all treated him with respect. Captain Bylesspoke in very high terms of Sam, who had, I found, been the means ofbringing home the truth to him. He had prayers every day, when theweather permitted, in his cabin, and a service on the Sunday for thewhale of the crew, while I never heard a harsh or wrong expressionescape his lips.
"You t'ink, Massa Harry, perhaps, I go into dat chapel by chance,"observed Sam to me one day; "now I t'ink dere is no such t'ing aschance. God orders everyt'ing. He sees us all day and all night long,and orders all for de best."
I agreed with Sam, and I may say that I never forgot the lessons Ireceived from him. I found great pleasure in listening to him while heread the Bible and explained it in his own somewhat curious way, as faras language was concerned. I had before been accustomed to read theBible as a task, but I now took to reading it with satisfaction andprofit. From others of the crew I learned a good deal of seamanship,especially how to knot and splice,--an art which I found afterwards veryuseful.
We had been several weeks from England, and had thus far carried thefine weather with us, when clouds appeared in the horizon which soonbegan to rush in dense masses over the sky. The sea, hitherto so calm,tossed and foamed, and the wind howled and shrieked through the rigging.I asked the captain if he thought we were going to have a severe gale.
"It looks very like it," he answered, "but we must do our best and trustin God. Once I used to think that while I was doing my best, God wasfighting against me, but now, Harry, I see it the other way. It is agreat thing to feel that the All-Powerful who rules the world is withus. It makes a man far happier and more courageous."
The crew had gone aloft to furl the sails, and the ship was soon underher three closely-reefed topsails. Still the wind increased, and theseas rose up on either side as if they would overwhelm her. The nightwas coming on. The captain held a consultation with his mates. Thefirst mate and one of the best hands went to the helm. The main andmizzen-topsails were furled, the helm was put up, and the ship was keptaway before the wind. The huge seas followed close astern, roaring andhissing after us. Arthur and I had remained on deck.
"I must beg you to go below," said the captain; "for if one of theseseas was to break on board, you might be swept off, and no one couldsave you." Still, I was very unwilling to obey. John, however, comingon deck, saw the danger we were in, and pulled us down the hatchway. Wefound Ellen in the cabin kneeling at the table with Maria at her side.She had the Bible open, though it was a difficult matter to read by theflickering light of the lamp, which swung backwards and forwards.Still, every now and then, by keeping her finger on a verse, she wasable to catch a few words; while Maria, with her large eyes wide openfixed on her young mistress, was listening eagerly to what she said. Soengaged were they, that neither of them observed our entrance. NowEllen stopped, and I heard her lifting up her voice in prayer for thesafety of the ship and all on board. John and I, making our way to theother side of the table, knelt down likewise. Though she saw us she didnot stop. We remained thus for some time, when a shout from the deckreached us. I could not help rushing up again. John followed me.During the few minutes we had been below the darkness had increased, butat that instant a vivid flash of lightning bursting from the sky, showeda large ship ahead of us. We were running on towards her. Again allwas darkness, and I expected to hear the fearful crash of the two shipsmeeting. Again another flash, followed by a fearful peal of thunder,lighted up the atmosphere. The ship was no longer there, but an objectfloating on the foaming waves. It was a boat full of people. It seemedimpossible that she could live many moments in so fearful a sea.Presently I saw our crew running with ropes to the side. Already thestern of the boat was sinking beneath the waves. There was a thunderingsound, as if a big gun had been fired. Our foresail had burst from thebolt-ropes. We rushed on close to the boat. John, Arthur, and I sprangto the side. Several persons were clinging to the ropes which had beenthrown over to them. We assisted in hauling them up. A sea struck usat that moment, and two were washed away. Three others clung on, andwere partly hauled and partly washed on board; while a dog which wasswimming near them was lifted up by a wave and let directly down on thedeck. We and they had to cling to the bulwarks to save ourselves frombeing carried off to leeward. One of our men, who had let go his holdwhile assisting the strangers, was carried off by the rush of wateracross the deck, and before any one could help him, he was seenstruggling amid the foaming billows astern. On flew the _Inca_ over thespot where the ship had just before been seen. We managed to drag thestrangers to the companion hatch, and, with the assistance of Sam,carried them below, followed by the dog which had been so curiouslysaved with them. True, when he entered the cabin, instead of barking,ran up to him wagging his tail and showing every sign of pleasure. Iobserved how like the two animals were to each other. The mystery wassoon solved. The officers and crew remained on deck to bend anothersail. As the light of the lamp fell on the features of the first personwe got into the cabin, what was my astonishment to recognise my oldfriend Tony Nyass. His surprise at seeing me was equally great.
"Is Houlston saved?" were the first words he uttered. "He was close tome!"
"Yes, all right!" exclaimed a young man, who, helped by Sam, totteredinto the cabin. It was Houlston himself, though I should not have knownhim, so pale and scared did he look. The third was one of the mates ofthe Portuguese ship.
"And Faithful, too," cr
ied Tony, kneeling down and embracing his dog."My old fellow, I am indeed very glad you have escaped." Faithfulseemed as well pleased as his master; and True knew him at once, andwelcomed him by leaping up to lick his face, though as he did so theship gave a tremendous roll, and over he tumbled to the other side ofthe cabin.
I need not say how thankful we were that the lives of our oldschool-fellows had been preserved. They were shivering with cold, so,taking them into our cabin, we got off their wet clothes and put them tobed. Tony then told me that after the commencement of the gale, theship had sprung a leak, and that though the crew had behaved very well,and stood manfully to the pumps, the water could not be got under. Whenit was found that the ship must go down, the boats were prepared. Heand Houlston, with the second mate and several of the crew, had got intoone of them, and shoved clear of the ship just as she sank; but theother, he was afraid, had been immediately overwhelmed; indeed, itseemed scarcely possible that any boat could have lived many minutes inthe heavy sea then running. It was wonderful that the boat he was inhad remained long enough afloat to allow our ship to get near her.
During the whole of that night the hurricane blew as hard as ever, wecontinuing to run before it. Every moment I expected to hear that theship had sprung a leak, and that we should have to share the fate of theunfortunate _Vasco da Gama_. We were dreadfully knocked about. Ourbulwarks were stove in, and two of our boats carried away. We lost ourtopmasts, and received other damage; but the stout old ship stillbattled bravely with the seas. As the morning broke the wind began toabate. By noon the sun was shining brightly, and the sea had gone muchdown.
"Perhaps, after all," observed Tony, "we shall go round the Cape withyou to Quito, and then have to find our way down the Amazon to Para, asI suppose that will then be the shortest road there."
"I am afraid, young gentleman, you would find that a very long road,"observed Captain Byles. "As the ship requires repairs, I must run intoRio de Janeiro, and from thence you will more easily get to Para, thoughI should have been very happy to have had your company round Cape Horn."
Tony was much disappointed on hearing this. We had still a long runbefore us, and the prospect of Tony and Houlston's company on board formany days. The Portuguese mate, Mr Lima, had friends at Para, and heundertook to assist Houlston and Tony in getting there. He was a verywell-mannered, amiable man, and as he spoke a little English, we wereable to converse together. He gave me much information regarding theBrazils, which is by far the largest country in South America. Althougha very small portion only is cultivated, it is also the richest both invegetable and mineral wealth. He told me of its magnificent forests,its plantations of coffee and tobacco, and certain of its valleys, insome of which gold in abundance is found, and in others diamonds ofextraordinary value.
"What do you say, Harry--shall we go and hunt for them?" exclaimed Tonywhen he heard this.
Mr Lima laughed. "The Government are too wide-awake to allow you to dothat," he observed. "No one is allowed to go into that part of thecountry except those employed in collecting the diamonds; but I willtell you one thing, it is the poorest part of the Brazils. If the samenumber of people who are engaged in collecting the diamonds wereemployed in cultivating the waste ground, the country would, I believe,be far richer. However, perhaps my friends here may obtain permissionto visit the mines, and if so, I dare say they will some day give you anaccount of them."
Of course Tony said he would do so. If he was fortunate enough to getthere.
When the weather grew fine we passed our time very pleasantly, for wehad a number of interesting books, especially of natural history, inwhich we old school-fellows fortunately took great delight. Houlstonand Tony had agreed to make collections of objects of natural historywhen they were settled at Para, and as they had lost all their ownbooks, I gave them some of mine, as there was little prospect of theirgetting any at Rio de Janeiro--so the captain told us. At length onemorning, just at sunrise, when I went on deck to enjoy the cool air, Iheard the shout of "Land!" and looking out, I saw a line of bluemountains rising out of the water. The breeze carried us quicklytowards them, and in a short time we could distinguish a lofty height,shaped like a sugar-loaf, which stands at the south side of the entranceinto the harbour of Rio. A little to the left rose three peaks, whichMr Lima, the Portuguese mate, called the _Tres Irmaos_, or the "ThreeBrothers," with the lofty peak of Corcovado a little further south. Onthe right of the entrance we could distinguish the white walls of thefortress of Santa Cruz, which commands it, with another range ofmountains rising above it, and terminating in a bold, lofty promontory,known as Cape Frio, while far beyond towered up the blue outline of thedistant Organ Mountains. We sailed on, passing between the loftyheights I have described, being hailed, as we glided under the frowningguns of Santa Cruz, by a stentorian voice, with various questions as towho we were, whence we came, our object in entering the port, to all ofwhich Captain Byles replied through his speaking-trumpet. It would bedifficult to describe the beautiful scene in which we now foundourselves,--curious-shaped canoes and boats of all rigs, manned byhalf-naked blacks, sailing about, and a number of vessels at anchor inthe vast harbour; numerous white forts, backed by picturesque hillsrising above them, covered with the richest verdure, and villagespeeping forth here and there in beautiful little bays; while higher upthe bay the vast city appeared, extending for miles along its irregularshore, and running back almost to the foot of the Tijuca Mountains, withhills and heights in every direction. In the midst of this scene wedropped our anchor under the frowning fortress of Villegagnon, the firstcastle erected by Europeans in that region.
I cannot hope to convey by words a correct idea of the beauty of thescenery or the magnificence of the harbour. All visitors agree that itis one of the finest in the world. We went on shore, and were verykindly received by an English merchant--the correspondent of the houseto which the _Inca_ belonged. John and I were anxious to help Tony andHoulston as far as we had the power, but our new friend undertook tosupply their wants, and to enable them to reach Para by the first vesselsailing for that port.
I will not attempt to describe Rio fully. It is a large city, withheights rising about in various parts, covered with buildings. Most ofthe streets are very narrow, the architecture very unlike anything I hadseen in England. Numbers of priests; gangs of slaves, carrying loads;ladies in black hoods reaching to the feet, called mantilhas; gentlemenin cloaks; soldiers on foot and on horseback, were moving about in alldirections. We made a few interesting excursions in the neighbourhoodof the city, and several expeditions about the bay.
Captain Byles was, of course, anxious to proceed on his voyage, andtherefore used all expedition in getting the ship ready for sea. We,however, had time to make one long excursion with our new friend to theOrgan Mountains, which we could see from the bay in the far distance. Iwas sorry that Ellen could not go, as it was considered that the tripwould be too fatiguing for her. We sailed up to the head of the bay formany miles in a pleasure-vessel belonging to our friend, sleeping onboard the first night. Early the next morning we started on mulestowards the mountains. The air was most delicious, pure, though warm,and the scenery very beautiful, as we made our way among heights coveredwith a great variety of tropical trees and creepers bearing magnificentflowers. Among them were the tall, gently-curved palmetto, elegant treeferns, unsurpassed by any of their neighbours in beauty, fuchsias intheir native glory, passion-flowers, and wild vines, hanging in gracefulfestoons, and orchids with their brilliant red spikes. As we passedthrough the valley we saw directly before us the mountains we were aboutto visit, and from their shape we agreed that they were well called theOrgan Mountains; for as we then saw them, the centre height especiallywore the appearance of a huge organ. "A grand instrument that," saidTony, "such as I suppose an angel might choose to sound forth the musicof the spheres."
We wound our way up amid the tame beautiful and wild scenery till wereached the summit, whence we enjoyed a magn
ificent view over thesurrounding country, with Rio and the blue ocean in the far distance.We had not come without provisions, nor had the scenery taken away ourappetites. We had also brought our guns, and led by our friend, westarted off on foot in search of game. We had gone some distance, when,as we were approaching one of the numerous pools of dear water which arefound even in the higher parts of the Organ Mountains, our friendstopped us and pointed towards a large tree, beneath the shade of whosewide-spreading boughs lay a creature apparently asleep. At first Ithought he was a large horse or hornless cow, but as we crept closer toit, and could see the shape of its head, I discovered that it was a verydifferent animal. "That is a tapir--the largest wild animal we have inSouth America," whispered our friend. As we approached the animal gotup and looked about. We remained perfectly quiet, to examine it atleisure. It appeared to be nearly four feet in height, and perhaps sixin length, the colour a deep brown, almost black. It had a stiff mane,and a very short stumpy tail, while its body appeared destitute of hair.It was not so, however, as I afterwards found; but the hair could notbe perceived in consequence of being closely depressed to the surface.Its legs were short and thick, and its feet of great size. The head wasunlike that of any other animal I had ever seen. It was very long, andthe upper lip or snout was lengthened into a kind of proboscis, whichlooked as if it might grow up into the trunk of an elephant. We were toleeward of the animal, but it quickly discovered us, and began to moveoff, when Faithful and True rushed forward, barking vehemently.Houlston fired, but the shot bounded off the tapir's thick shield-likehide, and away it went dashing through the dense underwood with a forcewhich broke down the shrubs opposing its progress. We had greatdifficulty in getting back our brave little dogs. They returned atlength, panting with their exertions. Fortunately the tapir wasfrightened, or they would have found him more than a match for them.Our friend told us that it has four toes on its front feet, and three onthe hinder ones, cased with horn. It manages with its flexible upperlip to tear away the leaves and to pick up the water-melons and gourdswhich it finds when it goes forth at night in search of food. However,it is in no way particular, being almost as omnivorous as the hog. Itssenses of smell and hearing are very acute. Its eyes, though, are smalland its ears short. Its voice is a shrill kind of whistle, such as onewould not expect to proceed from an animal of such massive bulk. It isextremely fond of the water, and delights in floundering about in themud. It can swim and dive also admirably, and will often remainunderneath the surface for many minutes together, and then rising for afresh supply of air, plunge down again. It indeed appears to be almostas amphibious as the hippopotamus, and has consequently been called_Hippopotamus terrestris_.
We all laughed at Houlston's ill success. It was the first attempt, Ibelieve, he had ever made at shooting.
"The aim was not bad though," observed Tony, "and if the hide had beensoft, the shot would have gone into it."
"It was a good large object, however, to aim at," said John. "A bulletwould have been more effectual in bringing the creature to the ground."
"I am not quite so certain of that," observed our friend, "for its toughhide is almost bullet-proof."
Houlston stood our bantering very good-naturedly, and managed in thecourse of the day to bring down a couple of birds. "You see, I improveby practice," he observed; "and one of these days I may turn out adead-shot."
I have described the tapir here as it was the first I met, but Iafterwards had better opportunities of observing the animal. As soon asour mules had rested we commenced our return, as our friend could not belong absent from Rio. We were at length once more on board the _Inca_.
Tony and Houlston expected to start with the Portuguese mate for thenorth in the course of two or three days, and they promised to send mean account of their adventures as soon as possible on their arrival atPara. The _Inca_ appeared once more in fit trim to encounter any stormwe might meet with in our passage round Cape Horn. At first the weatherwas very lovely; but as we were running down the coast of Patagonia aheavy gale sprang up from the southward, which threatened to drive usback again. Fortunately a sheltering bay was near at hand. Runninginto it, the ship was brought to an anchor, and we there lay as calmlyas if no storm was raging without. The country, however, was wild anddesolate in appearance. I should have thought no human beings wouldhave been found on it, but on looking through our glasses we observed anumber moving about, some on horseback, others on foot, apparentlywatching us. "Are you inclined to go on bore, gentlemen?" said thecaptain to us. Of course we replied Yes. Ellen begged that she mightgo likewise. We objected, fearing that she might be exposed to danger."She will be perfectly safe," answered Captain Byles; "for though thepeople on shore are not very prepossessing, I have always found themperfectly harmless. We will, however, carry our muskets, and the crewshall be armed likewise."
We were soon on shore, proceeding over the rough ground towards thenatives. They seeing Ellen and Maria in our midst, advanced withoutfear. They halted, however, at a little distance from us, when we putout our hands and walked towards them. They were big, stout men of abrown complexion, with long black hair hanging down their necks. Theironly dress consisted of skins fastened across their shoulders, leavingbare their enormous limbs. When we put out our hands they put outtheirs.
"Good day, my friends," said Captain Byles.
"Good day," exclaimed the savages in almost the same tone.
"Hillo! what, do you speak English?" cried Arthur.
"Hillo! what, do you speak English?" echoed the Patagonians.
"Of course I do," answered Arthur.
"Of course I do," said the natives.
Indeed, whatever words we uttered they repeated. We on this burst intofits of laughter, our new acquaintances doing the same, as if we haduttered a capital joke. They beat us, however, at that, for though westopped, they continued laughing--ay right heartily. At all events theyknew what that meant. Friendship was thus speedily established.Pointing to their skin tents at no great distance, supported on poles,and in shape like those of gipsies, but rather larger, they seemed toinvite us to them. We accordingly accompanied them. In front of thetents sat a number of women. They differed somewhat from the men, byhaving more ample robes of skin, and their hair bound by fillets roundtheir heads. They were, however, very unprepossessing-looking ladies.They all seemed to regard Ellen with looks of astonishment now gazing ather, now at her black attendant, and were evidently discussing amongthemselves how it was that they were of such different colours. We sawa number of horses scattered about the plain, and several of the menwere riding backwards and forwards armed with bows, and having at theirbacks large quivers full of arrows, and small round shields. The womenwere broiling meat at fires before the tents. They offered us some, andfrom the bones and feathers scattered about, we concluded that it wasthe flesh of the ostrich, which bird inhabits in large numbers the vastplains of Patagonia. Savage as they looked, they evidently wished totreat us civilly, for they spread some skins on the ground inside one oftheir tents, and signed to us to take our seats on them. To please themwe ate a little of the food they set before us, although I must saytheir style of cookery was not attractive. After we had sat for sometime, they continuing to imitate everything we said or did, we took astroll round the encampment. We had not gone far when a large grey birdwith a long neck and long legs, having three toes on its feet, stalkedup to us, and putting out its head, grunted in our faces. Arthur and Itook off our hats and made it a bow in return, greatly to the amusementof the Patagonians, who burst into loud fits of laughter at the joke.We recognised the bird at once as the _Rhea Americana_, or Americanostrich. As we did not retreat, it uttered a sharp hiss, and thenpoised itself as if it was about to attack us, and so I think it wouldhave done, had not the natives driven it away. It was about five feethigh, the neck completely feathered, the back of a dark hue, with theplumes of the wings white. It is said that the male bird takes care ofthe eggs which severa
l hens lay scattered about on the sand. He sweepsthem together with his feet into a hollow, which serves as a nest, sitsto hatch them, and accompanies the young till they are able to lookafter themselves. On such occasions he will attack a man on horsebackwho approaches his charges, and will leap up and try to kick him.
Captain Byles now told us it was time to return on board. Weaccordingly shook hands and made our way towards the boat. The people,however, began to assemble round us in considerable numbers. Thecaptain therefore ordered us all to keep together and to hurry on,without, however, showing any signs of fear. I was very thankful, forEllen's sake, when at last we reached the boat in safety. Whether thenatives had thought of attempting to stop us or not, I do not know.Perhaps they only purposed to do us honour by thus accompanying us tothe beach. We agreed that though the men at first looked gigantic, yetthis was owing probably to their style of dress; and the captain was ofopinion that very few of them were much above six feet. He told me thatthey live chiefly on flesh--that of horses, or emus, or guanacoes (aspecies of llama), and any other animal they can catch. We did notventure on shore again; and after waiting a few days, once more put tosea. I thought that these natives were about as savage in appearance asany people could be. I discovered, however, shortly afterwards, thatthere are other people sunk still lower in the scale of humanity.
Captain Byles purposed running through the Straits of Magellan. Just,however, as we were entering them, a strong south westerly gale sprangup, which prevented us from making the attempt. We accordingly stoodinto a sheltered bay in Terra del Fuego. The shore looked veryinhospitable--dark rocks rose up at a little distance from the water andseemed to form a barrier between the sea and the interior. There were afew trees, all stunted and bending one way as if forced thus by thewind. Still, John and Arthur and I had a fancy for visiting the shore,in the hope of obtaining some wild fowl. Having landed with one of themates and True, we took our way along the shores of the bay till wearrived at some high rocks. Over these we climbed. On descending, wefound ourselves on the side of an inlet. We had reached the shore, whenheavy showers of snow began to fall, driven against our faces by thesharp wind. We were about, therefore, to turn back, when we saw severalfigures moving at a little distance. Curious to see the natives, whichwe concluded these were, in spite of the snow we pushed on. We advancedcautiously, keeping a much as possible behind the rocks till we were ata short distance from them. We were thus able to observe them before wewere discovered. They were wild-looking savages. Their colour was thatof mahogany or rusty iron; their dresses, skins loosely wrapped roundthem and very scanty. One fellow was seated on the side of a canoe witha couple of dogs near him; while a woman, perhaps his wife, sat at alittle distance, crouching on the ground, covered by her skin robe. Assoon as they discovered us, instead of approaching as the Patagonianshad done, they sat stupidly gazing at us, lost apparently inastonishment. They did not, however, exhibit any sign of alarm as wewalked up to them. At length they got up, shouting out some words andpatting their breasts, which we concluded was a sign of friendship.Their dogs snarled at True and he barked in return, and I had to holdhim tight to prevent his flying at them. Perhaps they understood eachother better than we did the ill-favoured curs' masters or their mastersdid us. Still the greeting did not sound amicable. The natives weresmall, thin, and dirty in the extreme. Their weapons were bows andarrows. The only habitations we could see were wretched lean-tos, justcapable of sheltering them from the wind. Having an old clasp-knife inmy pocket, I presented it to the chief, who received it with evidentsigns of satisfaction. As there was no inducement to hold furtherintercourse with him, we returned by the way we had come, without havingseen a single bird near enough to shoot.
"Yet, Harry, those people have souls, destined to live for ever," saidArthur, in answer to a remark I made that they were little better thanbrutes. "Don't you think if the gospel were taken to them it would haveits never-failing effect? I will speak to Captain Byles on the subjectwhen we get on board."
He did so. Long since then several noble Christian missionaries visitedthat benighted region. Some perished, but others are still labouring tomake known the glad tidings of salvation to the rude inhabitants ofPatagonia and Terra del Fuego.
Finding it impossible to pass through the Straits, we had to go roundCape Horn. A couple of weeks, however, elapsed before we were clearinto the Pacific. After this we had a quick run, and once more thelofty summits of the Cordilleras greeted our eyes. Though I was but ayoung child when I had last seen them, so deep was the impression theyhad made on me that I recognised them at once.
On the Banks of the Amazon Page 2
