Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
doubling Cape Horn or the land of Tierra del Fuego, and arriving into
the degree of latitude and longitude we are now in without ever be-
ing brought once under our close reefed topsails since we left Strait la
Maire, a circumstance that perhaps never happened before to any ship
in those seas so much dreaded for hard gales of wind, insomuch that
the doubling of Cape Horn is thought by some to be a mighty thing and
others to this day prefer the Straits of Magellan. 15
It would be wrong to say that Cook had dispelled that dread.
Just off the Falklands there lies the 'tall ships' graveyard', an area
of ocean floor littered with the remains of vessels so battered by
the winds and waves of the Horn that they had to be scuttled. Hun-
dreds of others were not so fortunate as to be able to lay their bones
where they wished. No mariner looks forward to rounding the Horn,
yet many, like Cook, have found the experience an anticlimax. What
Cook did establish was that the dangers could be minimised. He con-
cluded, and on his next voyage proved, that the best way to double
the Horn was from west to east, in order to take advantage of the
prevailing winds. This, the southern summer, and that element of
luck every deep-sea man needs could rob the notorious passage of
much of its terror.
Exactly two calendar months later, after a trouble-free run be-
fore the trades, Endeavour anchored at Tahiti. Three months were
spent in this South Sea 'paradise' and all the visitors enjoyed their
stay. The scientists did their work. Cook observed and recorded the
geography and customs of the island. And his men availed them-
selves of all the pleasures extended to them by the lithe, smiling nat-
ives - pleasures which, they were delighted to discover, had not been
exaggerated by Wallis's mariners. Cook had the usual problem of
theft to contend with. Tools, weapons, clothing and scientific instru-
ments disappeared with alarming frequency. Even inside the well-
guarded stockade things were not safe. The Polynesians could in-
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search