d
of the justice of the proceeding, or awed by the severity, applied
themselves, without any murmurs, or appearance of discontent, to the
prosecution of the voyage; and, having broken up another vessel, and
reduced the number of their ships to three, they left the port, and,
on August the 20th, entered the straits of Magellan, in which they
struggled with contrary winds, and the various dangers to which the
intricacy of that winding passage exposed them, till night, and then
entered a more open sea, in which they discovered an island with a
burning mountain. On the 24th they fell in with three more islands, to
which Drake gave names, and, landing to take possession of them in the
name of his sovereign, found in the largest so prodigious a number of
birds, that they killed three thousand of them in one day. This bird,
of which they knew not the name, was somewhat less than a wild goose,
without feathers, and covered with a kind of down, unable to fly or
rise from the ground, but capable of running and swimming with amazing
celerity; they feed on the sea, and come to land only to rest at
night, or lay their eggs, which they deposit in holes like those of
conies.

From these islands to the south sea, the strait becomes very crooked
and narrow, so that sometimes, by the interposition of headlands, the
passage seems shut up, and the voyage entirely stopped. To double
these capes is very difficult, on account of the frequent alterations
to be made in the course. There are, indeed, as Magellan observes,
many harbours, but in most of them no bottom is to be found.

The land, on both sides, rises into innumerable mountains; the tops of
them are encircled with clouds and vapours, which, being congealed,
fall down in snow, and increase their height by hardening into ice,
which is never dissolved; but the valleys are, nevertheless, green,
fruitful, and pleasant.

Here Drake, finding the strait, in appearance, shut up, went in his
boat to make further discoveries; and having found a passage towards
the north, was returning to his ships; but curiosity soon prevailed
upon him to stop, for the sake of observing a canoe or boat, with
several natives of the country in it. He could not, at a distance,
forbear admiring the form of this little vessel, which seemed
inclining to a semicircle, the stern and prow standing up, and the
body sinking inward; but much greater was his wonder, when, upon a
nearer inspection, he found it made only