y these
flattering delusions, we passed those memorable straits, ignorant of
the dreadful calamities then impending, and ready to burst upon us;
ignorant that the moment was fast approaching when our squadron was to
be separated, never again to unite; and that this day of our passage
was the last cheerful day that the greatest part of us was ever to
enjoy in this world.

SECTION VIII.

_Course from the Straits of Le Maire to Cape Noir._

We had scarcely reached the southern extremity of the Straits of Le
Maire, when our flattering hopes were almost instantly changed to the
apprehension of immediate destruction. Even before the sternmost ships
of the squadron were clear of the straits, the serenity of the sky was
suddenly obscured, and we observed all the presages of an impending
storm. The wind presently shifted to the southward, and blew in
such violent squalls that we had to hand our top-sails and reef our
main-sail; while the tide, which had hitherto favoured us, turned
furiously adverse, and drove us to the eastward with prodigious
rapidity, so that we were in great anxiety for the Wager and Anna
pink, the two sternmost vessels, fearing they might be dashed to
pieces upon the shore of Staten Land; nor were our apprehensions
without foundation, as they weathered that coast with the utmost
difficulty. Instead of pursuing our intended course to the S.W. the
whole squadron was now drifted to the eastward, by the united force of
the storm and current; so that next morning we found ourselves nearly
seven leagues eastward of the straits, which then bore from us N.W.

The violence of the current, which had set us with so much
precipitation to the eastward, together with the fierceness and
constancy of the westerly winds, soon taught us to consider the
doubling of Cape Horn as an enterprize that might prove too mighty
for all our efforts; though some among us had so lately treated the
difficulties which former voyagers were said to have encountered in
this undertaking as little better than chimerical, and had supposed
them to have arisen from timidity and unskilfulness, rather than
from the real embarrassments of the winds and seas. But we were now
convinced, from severe experience, that these censures were rash and
ill founded; for the distresses with which we struggled during the
three succeeding months, will not be easily paralleled in the relation
of any former naval expedition; which, I doubt not, will be readi