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Wanderings in Patagonia Life Among the Ostrich-Hunters
The Project Gutenberg eBook, Wanderings in Patagonia, by Julius Beerbohm
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Title: Wanderings in Patagonia
Life Among the Ostrich-Hunters
Author: Julius Beerbohm
Release Date: August 24, 2013 [eBook #43552]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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WANDERINGS IN PATAGONIA.
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THE WANDERER'S LIBRARY.
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London Characters: Illustrations of the Humour, Pathos, and Peculiarities of London Life. By Henry Mayhew. With Illustrations by W. S. Gilbert, and others.
The Genial Showman: Adventures with Artemus Ward, and the Story of his Life. By E. P. Hingston. Illustrated.
Wanderings in Patagonia: or, Life among the Ostrich-Hunters. By Julius Beerbohm. Illustrated.
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CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY, W.
Wanderings in Patagonia
OR
LIFE AMONG THE OSTRICH-HUNTERS
A NEW EDITION, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
London
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY
1881
Wanderings in Patagonia.
CHAPTER I.
In the month of August, 1877, I found myself on board ship, bound from Buenos Ayres for the coast of Patagonia, in company with a party of engineers, who were going to survey that portion of the country which lies between Port Desire and Santa Cruz.
After leaving the River Plate we encountered adverse winds and heavy weather, which kept us tossing about for three weeks, without making any material progress on our course. At last we got a fair wind, however, which soon brought us close to our destination, the port of St. Julian (lat. 49° 20′ S.); and one morning, together with my five o'clock coffee, the cabin-boy brought me the welcome news that land was in sight. I jumped out of bed and ran on deck, careless of the hail and rain which were falling in blinding showers, and of the wind which blew off the land, far colder and sharper than we had hitherto experienced. On looking to leeward, I could at first see nothing but a thick bank of clouds; but presently the horizon got clearer, and I descried a dark, lowering line of coast, of fierce and inhospitable aspect, rising abruptly from the sea to a considerable height.
I had not long to examine it, for a sudden shift of the wind shrouded the whole coast in mist, and it did not become visible again till the afternoon, when the weather cleared up, and the sun shone out brightly. The wind, however, slowly increased in violence; by the time St. Julian came in sight we were plunging along under reefed topsails, and the captain began to think that we should have to stand off the port till the force of the storm had abated—a prospect which threw us all into dismay, as we had already been looking forward with vivid expectations to the pleasure of stretching our legs on terra firma the next morning—a luxury which those who have made a long sea voyage can fully appreciate.
While the captain was yet doubtful what course to take, the matter was summarily decided by the weather itself. The wind, which had hitherto been blowing from the north-east, shifted to the south-east, and redoubled its fury; and rather than run the risk of standing off the port for the night, under a lee shore and with a strong current setting in to the land, the captain elected to face the lesser danger, and enter the port.
The necessary orders were accordingly given; a man was sent aloft to look out for banks or rocks, and all preparations were made for any emergency. An anxious time ensued for all on board, as we steered slowly in under the northern headland of St. Julian, menaced on either side by steep and rugged cliffs, falling vertically down to the water's edge; the sea dashing at their base with an angry roar, and hurling the white spray almost to their very summits. The gale howled through the rigging, and a thousand sea-birds, startled at such an unusual apparition, circled round the ship, white and silent, seeming to eye us with an unpleasant curiosity.
Suddenly we heard a shout, "Breakers ahead!" and everyone turned pale and looked anxiously forward. Right in front of us, and forming a belt across the entrance of the port, stretched a line of