Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ally preferred to the roots, with great quantities of clover and oats . .
.
15
The emaciated sailors began to put on weight. Aching limbs and
limp muscles regained their strength. Soon the men were working
eagerly recaulking their vessels and making good damaged spars
and torn sails.
It was not just the appalling sufferings of the previous two years
which made Juan Fernandez appear so delectable. Anson's men were
neither the first nor the last to be captivated by its wooded valleys,
open grassland and varied foliage. Even in the southern winter the
island, lying close to the thirty-third parallel enjoys a mild climate.
Dampier had estimated that it would easily support four or five hun-
dred families and another visitor a hundred and fifty years later
would eulogise, 'Blessed island of Juan Fernandez! Why Alexander
Selkirk ever left you was more than I could make out.'
16
The commodore noted its qualities and, on his return, urged
the government to set up a British settlement and garrison there. In
view of the problems which have beset the Falkland Islands perhaps
it is as well that no one in London took up his suggestion.
With three ships at least partially serviceable and a body of men
who, though greatly reduced in number (the
Centurion
alone had
lost 280 men out of a total complement of 531) were for the most
part restored to health and vigour, Anson now embarked on what
was the strategic objective of the voyage: marauding Spanish set-
tlements and shipping. The Admiralty's plan had been to clamp the
Isthmus of Panama between the two jaws of a naval vice but Anson
soon discovered, to his immense chagrin, that the plan had failed.
Vernon's well-equipped Caribbean fleet was supposed to have es-
tablished a strong British presence on the Atlantic coast of Darien
and opened up a corridor across the Isthmus along which men and
supplies could be sent for activities in the South Sea. Anson now
