A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions/Volume 2/Chapter 9
Hunting Wild Cattle in the Falkland Islands. Page 248.
CHAPTER IX.
CHAPTER IX.
Early the next day, accompanied by Captain 1842.
April.Crozier, I called upon the Lieutenant-Governor, and was informed by him that the settlers were on short allowance of bread and flour, the supplies from Buenos Ayres, upon which they depended, not having yet arrived.
It was fortunate that out of our abundance we could spare as much as they would for the present require, and which they would be able to replace before our departure again for the South. In consequence also of nearly all the Gauchoes having left the settlement, the government stock of cattle was reduced so low that we could only get fresh beef every alternate day for our people, and of vegetables there was not sufficient in the government garden to furnish one table daily; of these the governor generously gave to our officers a large proportion, as also of the scanty allowance of milk and butter the dairy afforded.
As an abundance of fresh beef for our crews was of first importance, I obtained the governor's permission to send a hunting party to supply the ships during the whole period of our stay, paying for whatever they could provide the same price as was at the time of our arrival charged to the settlers for what they purchased from the government store. The service, was, however, of too dangerous a nature for those unacquainted with it to enter upon without due caution; for many are the narratives of hair-breadth escapes, of severe injury, and of death, that are related by those who have been much engaged in hunting the wild cattle of the Falkland Islands; I therefore considered it better to wait the hourly expected arrival of Her Majesty's ketch, Arrow, commanded by Lieutenant Robinson, who had been several years employed in the survey of the numerous harbours and inlets with which the islands abound, that from her people, who were accustomed to the sport, our hunters might receive the necessary instructions and assistance until they should be able to do without them; and more especially on account of the dogs, which had been trained for the purpose, and were essential to the safety of the hunters, being on board the Arrow, always accompanying the vessel to provide fresh provision for her crew whilst engaged in their arduous duties.
In the mean time, however, shooting parties were sent out every day, and procured a great number of rabbits, and various kinds of birds. Of these the teal, snipe, and upland goose were the most delicious, and afforded a wholesome and useful variety in the diet of the crews.
The astronomical and meteorological observatory was placed near the fort, built by Bougainville in 1764, for the protection of his settlement, at an elevation of sixty-eight feet, and the magnetic observatory nearer to the ships in a more protected situation and thirty-six feet above the level of the sea: two huts were erected close by it for the accommodation of the officers and men employed at the observatories, and our usual series of magnetometric and other observations were commenced on the 15th of April.
The astronomical observations and pendulum experiments, in which I was assisted by Captain Crozier, were begun soon afterwards, and a series of more than ordinary extent obtained, with the view to arrive at the cause of the great and inexplicable discordance between the results of the French navigators, Captain Freycinet and Captain Duperrey at this place.
Captain Duperrey fixed his observatory amidst the ruins of the settlement of Saint Louis; but as there did not appear to have been any mark left on the spot, we could not determine its position with the desirable exactness, and our subsequent observations prove that our observatory was about half a mile to the southward of the situation of his. He states in his Voyage autour du Monde, p. 98. that the difference in the latitude of his station and that of Captain Duperrey was 3′ 32″ and the longitude 3′ 43″, the latter station being on an island to the south-eastward, called by the French the "Isle de Conti," which is probably Hog Island of the Admiralty Chart.
The ships' companies were employed under Commander Bird and Lieutenant McMurdo in constructing a pier, of the numerous heavy masses of loose stones that lay about convenient for the purpose, at which our boats could land at any time of tide, and thus materially facilitate the disembarkation and re-embarkation of the ship's stores and provisions, as it was necessary to take every thing out of them previous to laying them on the ground for examination and repair; and also in erecting a spacious storehouse, convenient to the pier, capable of containing the entire contents of one ship, completely protected from the inclement weather we had reason to expect, by a close thick thatch of Tussock grass.
Whilst these preliminary measures were being proceeded with, Lieutenant Robinson arrived in the Arrow towards the end of April; and as the period of her stay was limited, a party was immediately sent off to Port St. Salvador, whose deeply indented shores he recommended as best adapted for a hunting station. One of the ship's boats was carried over the narrow neck of land that separates the westernmost part of Port Louis from Port St. Salvador, and in it the party embarked, accompanied by some of the Arrow's best sportsmen and the dogs, intending to pitch their tents on the western shores of the Port.
The party appeared to have lost no time; for in two or three days we received the substantial assurance of its success and exertion, in a supply of twelve hundred weight of beef; and I am glad to have the opportunity of introducing here an interesting account of the wild cattle hunt, furnished to me by an officer who accompanied the party in their first successful chase.
"After a wet and weary pull of three hours, which carried us no more than as many miles, we approached the hunting grounds on the western shores of St. Salvador Bay. There we descried, through the drizzling sleet, a herd of some fifteen cattle on a point of land: a sight which put us all into excellent spirits. The dogs were immediately seized, and held down in the bottom of the boat; for their habit is, even on scenting the animals, to plunge into the water, and by giving tongue, frighten the game far away before the party can reach the shore. The men were all eagerness, stripping to their Guernsey frocks and trowsers, each slinging a sharp knife round his waist. My companion and I loaded our rifles, knowing that for new hands to keep up with the runners was impossible; and that our only chance of glory lay in having a long shot at some pugnacious bull or fleeing cow, which, inglorious as it may sound, is no more so in reality than if the game were a deer, and infinitely less than if a hare or bird.
"Before, however, detailing the incidents of this particular chase, I may give an outline of the general features of a cattle-hunt, as pursued by our seamen, which differs considerably from that of the Gauchoes; and most prominently in not involving those revolting cruelties which the latter practise, sometimes heedlessly, but oftener to gratify a childish revenge for the toil incident on a hard hour's or day's work, and not seldom out of mere wanton wickedness. Horses and lassos we never used: strong dogs and nimble feet being all that are absolutely required; though a couple of rifles are generally necessary; for the bulls attain a size and ferocity of which we had previously little idea, and they sometimes gallantly defend the herd. The dogs were of no particular breed; they were powerfully built and fleet, appearing to have more of the Spanish pointer than any other blood in them: a cross of the Newfoundland, mastiff, bull-dog, and even coach-dog, was sufficiently obvious in one or other of the best. All were very courageous; and new ones introduced into a good pack take instinctively to the habits of the old. It is very seldom that they will attack a full-grown bull, which is not wonderful, for the old Falkland Islands' 'Tauro' is the largest of its race: its neck is short and of prodigious depth: the skin of one we killed was upwards of two inches in thickness, and its head half as large again as that of an ordinary bull: they are generally black, have a noble carriage, and are possessed of indomitable courage and untameable ferocity. Specimens of these dimensions are however rare and do not mix with the other cattle, though sometimes attending them. More frequently they are seen solitary on the hills, with erect crests and distended nostrils, looking defiance at the passing traveller, and sometimes flying at him unprovoked; when he must betake himself to a bog, a 'stream of stones,' or cliff. Should no such refuge be nigh, the last resource is, (as I am told by those whom I believe to have practised the ruse,) to drop suddenly on the ground; when the bull starts aside from the unwonted obstacle in its path and pursues its onward course. When provoked and infuriated on open ground there is no escape even thus: the brave gunner of the 'Erebus' was struck down and the turf torn up in furrows on each side of his body by the diverging horns of a wounded and maddened bull; and my friend Capt. Sulivan bears the mark of a wound on his head which he received under precisely similar circumstances: in both these instances the animals were providentially shot before returning to gore.
"The cows are of the size of the ordinary Ayrshire stock: they invariably flee man, and seldom offer any effectual resistance to the dogs. They herd, with the young bulls and heifers, in numbers of ten to thirty, roaming more or less, but particularly attaching themselves to tussock grounds. Those who know cattle in our parks only, or even on the hills of Scotland, can form no idea of their speed and strength; and we found that it took three powerful dogs to 'moor' (as our sailors termed it) one full-grown cow.
"The plan of attack is very simple: the object is to take as many animals out of one herd as possible. We had only dogs enough to hold one cow at a time, which is despatched by the hunter before the same dogs are free to follow the herd and detain another. Hence speed is the first requisite for this kind of chase. Shooting forms no part of the hunter's duty; as it is evident that he must be wholly disencumbered for running. Though stalking down and shooting the cattle (thus adding to the commissariat by powder and ball) is both exciting and advantageous, still the rifle-man is comparatively an idler, except in the case of an attack from the bulls; for he can only secure one or two, according to the number of his barrels, at the opening of the hunt; whilst the runner must keep on as long as there is a possibility of the dogs overtaking even a heifer. To resume the narrative: the sagacious dogs showed, by their eager looks and panting, that they understood the cause of and partook in our excitement, and were with great difficulty held down. We landed on the point, screened from the herd, and cautiously wound round a hill; till we were opened to the view of fifteen fine cows, young bulls and heifers, which threw their tails into the air, and, with an awkward bound and fling up of their heels, set off for the interior at a pace of which I hardly thought cattle capable. The dogs, already loose, sprang after and overtook them in a quarter of a mile. The runners of the party, in light shoes, long accustomed to the exercise, flew rather than ran in their wake; whilst my companion and self, each equipped with heavy ordnance rifle, cartouch-box, ammunition and accoutrements, pea jacket, fishermen's boots and sou'-wester, took long shots (of about three hundred yards), to the imminent danger of the runners, and then floundering along over balsam-bogs, tussock clumps, and 'diddle-dee' bushes, arrived thoroughly blown at the top of a hill immediately overlooking the scene of action. The herd was hieing off in the distance; all but one fine cow which the hounds detained. 'Yorke,' a noble dog, held her by the throat: 'Laporte,' his scarcely less powerful comrade, had seized the middle of the tail; and 'anchored' her, in spite of kicks and struggles, which caused him to twist round and round as if on a pivot; whilst little 'Bully,' a smaller more mastiff-like dog, had fixed histeeth into the poor brute's tongue, and all were mingling their snarls and stifled barks with her pitiful moans. It was a most cruel sight; but happily her sufferings did not last long. A runner, scarcely less fleet than the hounds, was already up with his knife, and quick as lightning hamstrung both hind-legs: she fell with a deep agonised low to the ground: he sprang to her shoulder like a savage, and before she could turn her head to butt plunged the steel into her neck; when she rolled over, a dying creature. One fierce dog thrust his muzzle into the gaping wound, and the others were already lapping the blood: they were kicked off with violence, and with the men started like the wind after the herd; for so short a time did all this take, that the remainder of the cattle were still in sight. A young bull and heifer were in like manner consecutively seized by the dogs, hamstrung and despatched by these swift-of-foot men, who then gave up the chase. They next cleaned, skinned and quartered the animal last killed with marvellous celerity, and returned to the second; each bearing a quarter on his shoulder, its fibre still quivering, as it appeared, from the effects of the hard run, so abruptly brought to a close. The second was treated in like manner, and transported to that first slain; beside which I had remained. Not being able to carry all to the boats, the latter was cleaned and spread open on the turf, with the hide uppermost; to protect it from the carrion hawks and vultures which were wheeling in flocks over our heads. First however a fine piece was cut out, with enough of the hide to wrap completely round it and provide a supper of 'carne con cuero' for all hands.
"In the mean time darkness and heavy sleet had overtaken us, with a bitter S. W. wind: no one in the excitement of the chase had used the precaution of observing the bearings of our landing-place; and we were soon completely bewildered amongst the innumerable little points that project into the bay, and the fingering lagoons that ramify inland. For several hours we stumbled along the muddy and rocky shore, before we found the individuals who remained with the boats; and whose halloos the wind carried away from us; whilst their beacon fire was wholly obscured by the thick sleet. Arriving at midnight, very cold, drenched and weary, we were delighted to find a roaring fire of 'diddle-dee' ready to cook our supper, for which the party had been most anxiously looking out. It was easily prepared: the lump of beef was wrapped tight and sewn into the hide; then thrown upon the fire, which, when fed with fresh marrow-bones, burned fiercely. In about an hour the 'carne con cuero' was taken out, looking like a red-hot cannon-ball; for the skin formed a hard charcoal case round the flesh: after cooling, it was opened, and showed a piece of deliciously flavoured, but rather tough beef, stewed in its own gravy. The tents had been pitched on a bed of shingle, the only dry ground in these spongy islands: the melting snow from the tent sides drained off underneath it; and though hard, this bedding accommodates itself, by a little bumping, to the projections of the body, and is tolerably comfortable as long as one is content to keep in the same position. After supper we jumped into our blanket bags, drew a sail over us; and, never too tired for our pipe and glass of grog, my companion and I yarned for an hour; when the nature of our conversation led to the following remarks.
"Like all similar sports, requiring little superiority of intellect or cunning, and involving much bloodshed, we agreed in pronouncing this to be a barbarous exercise, which, however exciting and manly in its pursuit, should only be practised as a duty, and not indulged in for amusement only. The death by violent means of any creature innocuous to man should excite sympathy in the well-regulated mind, proportionably to the defencelessness of the sufferer: whilst ths sight of one of the larger animals, helplessly weltering in its own blood, is not only painful but revolting. The temporary excitement, or the opportunity of rejoicing in one's own power or prowess, which leads the sportsman in the field to thirst for the slaughter of the deer at home, or of the cattle in the Falklands, but which so deserts him elsewhere that he shuns the sight of the shambles, cannot be wholesome: for it renders him callous to the cry of pain, though inflicted by himself, and it has a purely selfish object. We had turned our heads away when the cow was slaughtered; and walked off whilst the butcher quartered it, and so we remembered having left, in Kerguelen's Land, the first sea-bears we killed, till cold, before we could with untroubled minds assist in their transportation: so, too, it was not without remorse that the first sea-leopard was lanced on the ice; whose bravery before death, and mild supplicating eye when writhing under the spear, seemed to ask if passive courage deserved such a fate, if it were meet that any other motive than stern necessity should tempt a generous foe to witness a gallant endurance of wrongs, which the sufferer can neither avert nor requite. We found that being habituated to these sights blunted our feelings of sympathy: a deterioration of mind which, in educated men, may lead to no mischief, but which has this effect with the savage or but partially civilised subject. No one, knowing the barbarities practised by the inhuman Gauchoe, who mutilates his fellow creature for the gratification of revenge, can doubt of these atrocities being the fruits of a love of cattle-slaughtering, which he adopts as his profession from a blood-thirsty disposition. It is a law with him to kill: any opposition on the part of his victim to his fulfilling that law is an offence against himself; which he makes it a duty to punish: hence the wanton cruelty he practises on the poor cattle in the hunt, and hence the torturing of his prisoner or captive in war. I never afterwards passed the spot where the bones of the treacherously murdered Brisbane lay bleaching in the sun, and whither his body had been dragged at the heels of the Gauchoes' horses ere life was extinct, but conscience whispered that the motives which induced me to join in the cattle hunt, to which neither duty nor necessity called me, were those which, when fostered in untutored breasts, whose passions were unrestrained, led to as foul a tragedy as ever disgraced humanity. That they produced effects in us, the following little anecdote will show: its sequel was a subject of bitter regret to all concerned in it.
"The wild horse roams at large, in troops of twenty to forty over the northern parts of the Western Island; and has often afforded sport, especially to the Gauchoe, when no other game was at his mercy. Shortly before leaving the islands, we had heard of a fine heifer having herded with a troop of horses; and knowing that it would be long before we should again taste fresh beef, of which the ships had lately run very short, the said heifer became the desire of our mess. A party with five guns and a dog was formed, and left Berkeley Sound early one morning, with the intention of capturing the young wanderer. During a twelve miles' walk, the subject of eating horse-flesh was discussed; and the grim prospect of spending a season in the ice, without fresh meat, determined us, failing the heifer, to secure a colt, dead or alive. Wild horses, when provoked, are dangerous to unarmed men, who are sometimes trodden down by the troop, or kicked and severely bitten by some champions of their number: we therefore took precautions intended to avoid both risk to ourselves, and the necessity of killing any thing but the heifer or a colt. The horses were discovered on the broad brow of a hill, down which ran two parallel 'streams of stones,' some sixty yards apart; the latter offering us an excellent refuge, as no hoofed animal can advance upon such loose angular blocks of quartz; and we managed to get the troop between these 'streams.' Though poor of their kind, the horses were noble-looking; their small heads, round barrels, clean limbs, flowing manes and tails, and, above all, their bold carriage and air of freedom, made them appear to particular advantage. A glossy black stallion headed the troop, and, with an iron-grey mare, attended by her long-legged shambling colt, seemed particularly impatient of our presence. By and by these advanced towards us, now ambling, and now at a canter, followed by their companions: they snorted, shook their wild manes, wheeled round in file, and again closing, stood stock-still, and looked defiance at our whole party. They all kept so close together, that it was impossible to single out the heifer, who impudently and awkwardly imitated the airs of its bold protectors. We therefore determined to divide a little, and to let the dog, whose impatience was all but ungovernable, loose on the troop, which would thereby be scattered; when the heifer was to be singled out and shot by one of the party; if the dog did not seize it. The loosened hound bounded forwards with a short bark; the horses eyed him, shook their heads, turned their tails towards us, and forthwith one and all began to neigh, rear, fling, and kick at the empty air; with a rapidity of motion, uniformity, and pertinacity that discomfited poor 'Yorke,' and moved us to shrieks of laughter. Truly, thought I, the horse is brother to the ass; yet so effectual was the defence, that the dog, whose eye was on the heifer, could no where break into the phalanx. A shot was then fired over their heads, they started and sprung forwards: quick as thought 'Yorke' had the heifer by the throat; its cries and our shouts scared the troop, who started off in file for the mountains. Every man's rifle was at his shoulder, to resist firing a shot was impossible: one ball whistled through the air, and a horse drew up, stumbled forward and fell: the spirit of emulation was roused, four more shots followed, and each brought its mark to the ground. I saw the gallant grey mare bound high into the air; one true aim had pierced her heart; she rolled over dead and struck her colt to the ground as she fell."
Having now secured a plentiful supply of fresh beef, and the means of obtaining as much as we should require, our huntsmen, after a little practice, becoming equally expert and successful, the Arrow's people were recalled, as, from her having been in commission now nearly five years, they were naturally anxious to return home as soon as possible after their duties were fulfilled.
Lieutenant Robinson having orders to touch at Rio de Janeiro, I availed myself of so excellent an opportunity of transmitting an account of the proceedings of the expedition up to the present date, and of my future intentions, to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and to Commodore Purvis, the senior officer of that part of the South American Station; and at the same time made known to the Commodore our want of a new May.bowsprit, and a further supply of provisions and stores, should any opportunity present itself of sending them to us; but that otherwise we could do quite well upon our present resources, as I was unwilling to hazard the present healthy condition of our crew by taking them into a warm climate, until we had completed our work in the southern regions. I also sent by the Arrow all the specimens of natural history which had been collected during the voyage, which I have since learnt were conveyed from Rio to England in her Majesty's ship Acteon, Captain Robert Russell, and safely deposited in the British Museum.
The pier and storehouse being finished by the middle of May, the Erebus was completely cleared out; and, after a careful examination of the ground, she was hove up as far as we could get her at the top of high water, on the morning of the 25th, and the carpenters of both ships, and as many hands as could be of any assistance to them, were set to work to repair the damages she had sustained during the late arduous season's navigation amongst the ice.
On the 24th of May, being the anniversary of the birth of our most gracious Queen, a royal salute was fired from a temporary battery we had constructed on the beach, on which the guns and howitzers of both ships had been mounted for the occasion, and our people enjoyed an additional allowance of provisions and grog in honour of the day.
All the repairs and caulking below the water line of the Erebus being completed by the evening of the 26th, she was hauled off at high water, and moored at a convenient distance from the pier. The next few days were occupied in thoroughly cleansing and ventilating the holds, whilst a strict and careful survey of all the remaining stores and provisions was being made by officers appointed to that duty; their reshipment was commenced on the 1st of June, and finished by the 7th.
Precisely similar operations were commenced upon the Terror; she was laid on the ground for examination and repair on the 22nd, and hove off June 22.again on the 25th.
In the evening of the 23rd a man-of-war was seen beating up Berkeley Sound, and on her anchoring, late at night, outside the narrows, I sent an officer on board, in case of her wanting the assistance of a pilot into the harbour. On his return, he informed me it was her Majesty's ship Carysfort, commanded by the Right Honourable Lord George Paulet, having on board a bowsprit, and a large supply of provisions and stores sent to us by Commodore Purvis, and also a quantity of private stock for which we had written to a merchant at Rio, and which must have been sent to us, at great expense, in a hired vessel, but for the kindness of Lord George Paulet in taking charge of them for us, notwithstanding the great bulk and the inconvenience attending their stowage in a vessel already deeply laden and encumbered with the public stores; for this act of great kindness we all felt most thankful to him.
The merchant at Rio, of whom we had purchased these things, afterwards sent a small vessel on speculation, laden with an additional quantity of those articles of which he thought us likely to be in want; but, from her never having been since heard of, it is to be feared that she foundered in one of the heavy gales which occurred about the time of her expected arrival at the Falklands, and that all hands, amongst whom was the merchant's brother, perished.
June 24.Early the next morning, I went to pay my respects to Lord George Paulet, taking with me Mr. Tucker, master of the Erebus, to pilot the Carysfort into the inner harbour. There was a light adverse wind, but aided by a flowing tide, and admirably manœuvred, she worked through the narrows, and anchored close to the Erebus in the afternoon. It was no small gratification to us to have it in our power to transfer to them a quantity of fresh beef, which our hunting party had sent in that morning, more especially as they could not have obtained any from the government store; and by putting our crews on salt provisions for a few days, which was rather a treat than a privation to them, we were enabled to keep the Carysfort fully supplied during the too brief period of her stay. The pleasure of again meeting with our brother officers, after having been so long deprived of such society, few people can understand, except those who may have been similarly circumstanced; and the "holidays," as they were called, which their arrival and cordial and agreeable intercourse occasioned, were thoroughly enjoyed by us all.
The weather was unsettled and boisterous during their stay, and its inclemency was felt more severely by them, from their having so recently left the delightful climate and beautiful scenery of Rio de Janeiro, for the bleak snow-covered shores of the Falkland Islands.
July 7.The Carysfort sailed for the Pacific on the morning of the 7th July, giving us three hearty cheers at parting, which we as cordially returned.
With the new bowsprit, stores, and provisions, which the commodore had taken so much pains to provide for us, we felt completely set up, and that we should now be enabled to resume our explorations of the Southern Regions in as efficient a condition in every respect as on the day of our departure from England.
The refitment of the ships proceeded steadily and uninterruptedly; and by the end of the month of July they were again in perfect order and ready for sea. But as our magnetic experiments could not be completed until the end of August or beginning of September, and in order to give our people healthful exercise and useful occupation, I directed them to be employed building a wall seven feet thick, and as many high, round the spot which had been hitherto used as a burial-ground, but which was at present without any enclosure; and the remains of the ill-fated and barbarously murdered Brisbane, the companion of Weddeil on his daring and adventurous voyage to the highest southern latitudes, were removed from beneath the heap of stones, where the Gauchoes had left them, into the burial-ground, and a suitable inscription placed over them.
At the request of the Lieutenant-governor I made an excursion to Port William, accompanied by Captain Crozier, for the purpose of forming an opinion upon the relative merits of the two harbours, and whether Port Louis or Port William is the best adapted to be the chief port of the colony in a naval and commercial point of view combined. The result of the investigation, which, owing to unfavourable weather, occupied us nearly a week, was, that we agreed in considering Port William to possess so many advantages over Port Louis, that I recommended the settlement should be removed to the former place, for the following reasons.
Port William is much more easy of access from its situation near the eastern extreme point of the island (Cape Pembroke), so that ships are almost immediately in harbour after making the land, and as immediately at sea, clear of all dangers on leaving the harbour; whereas to gain Port Louis they have usually to beat twelve or thirteen miles against the prevailing winds, a serious objection, so far as merchant or disabled vessels are concerned.
Secondly, Port William has the advantage of Port Louis, in possessing two very secure outer anchorages, where ships, calling merely for water and refreshments, might be readily supplied without passing the narrows, in perfect safety and protection from all winds.
Thirdly, vessels of large size may pass through the narrows into the inner harbour of Port William (known as Jackson's Harbour) with any wind. Port Louis cannot be entered by vessels of considerable size, except under favourable circumstances, of infrequent occurrence. This advantage in favour of Port William arises from the prevailing winds blowing through the narrows of Port Louis, rendering it necessary to beat through them; but they blow across the narrows of Port William, so that ships may usually sail either in or out without making a tack; the narrows of Port William, also, have bolder and better protected shores than those of Port Louis.
Fourthly, there is a sufficient depth of water for a first-rate in the inner harbour of Port William, and ample room for twenty sail of the line; at Port Louis there is not sufficient depth of water for a large class frigate.
Fifthly, Port William has a peculiar advantage over Port Louis as a naval station in the facility with which a ship or squadron may be despatched to sea, with the wind blowing fresh from the eastward, which it could not be from Port Louis in such a case.
From these considerations it was sufficiently evident to us that should a large naval force ever be assembled or stationed at the Falkland Islands, the head quarters of the squadron would most assuredly be fixed at Port William rather than Port Louis.
The principal objection to placing the seat of government at Port William is the small quantity of land in its vicinity suitable to agricultural purposes; but as the chief advantages to be derived from our keeping possession of these islands are connected with maritime affairs, our opinion of the great superiority of Port William for naval purposes having been forwarded to the home government, the establishment has been since removed from Port Louis to Port William. It is desirable that this change should be extensively known, for merchant vessels, after rounding Cape Horn, very generally sight Cape Pembroke to verify their chronometers, though they seldom attempt to beat up Berkeley Sound, owing to the serious loss of time thus occasioned. Now, however, that by heaving to for two or three hours, under the lee of Cape Pembroke, they may be supplied with water and fresh provisions, many will be glad to avail themselves of so great an advantage, rather than run into any of the South American ports for supplies, where the harbour dues and other charges upon foreign vessels are extremely exorbitant.
The admirable accounts of the Falkland Islands, which have been so recently published by Captain Fitzroy and Mr. Darwin, render any description of them here unnecessary. I need therefore only observe, that the condition of the settlement at the period of our arrival was any thing but flourishing; indeed, from all accounts I heard, rather retrograding. The number of inhabitants had considerably diminished, and amounted, at this time, to only forty-six, independent of the lieutenant-governor and his party, consisting in all of about twenty, and Captain Allen Gardiner, R. N., his wife and two children, who were intending to reside in Patagonia, as soon as an opportunity presented of getting there, for the purpose of preparing the way for a missionary teacher to be sent into the wide field which appears to be opening for their benevolent and pious labours.
The following remarks on the botanical productions of the Falkland Islands, by Dr. Hooker, will be read with much interest, as also some additional particulars respecting the Tussock-grass extracted from the "Flora Antarctica."[1]
"The uniform plains and grassy undulating hills of the Falkland Islands betoken at first sight a country of little interest for the botanist; and a closer inspection proves this to be, to a certain extent, the case. The species are few in number, these two large islands containing hardly one hundred and twenty flowering plants, and their vegetation consisting chiefly of such natives of the rainy and storm-vexed mountains of Fuegia, and of the arid coast and plains of Patagonia, as can endure those sudden vicissitudes from heat to cold, and from damp to dry, which the climate of the Falklands presents. The position of the islands in question, about equally approximated to both the above-named countries, might naturally seem favourable to their receiving a like share of the vegetation of each. Grasses and the balsam-bog (Bolax glebaria) form the chief, and indeed the only conspicuous botanical feature in the landscape. During the whole year they cover the hills, the peatbogs, the plains, the coasts, and outlying islets. In the latter situation, the Tussock chiefly thrives in its greatest luxuriance, appearing like a forest of miniature palms; and this being the most important among the Falkland Island plants, it deserves to be noticed first. The similarity between the Tussock-grass and a small palm-tree is due to the curious mode of growth of the former. Each plant forms a hillock of matted roots, rising straight out of the ground, and a few feet or more apart from the roots of the surrounding Tussock plants. The hillocks are often six feet high, and four or five in diameter, and they throw out from the summit the copious grassy foliage, with blades full six feet in length, drooping on all sides, those of opposite plants meeting, so as to over-arch the spaces between. Thus a Tussock-bog (for so a tract of land covered with this grass is called) becomes often a labyrinth, and sometimes a dangerous one to the visitor; for these spots are the resort of sea-lions, which, when incautiously disturbed, bite very severely. Both the Tussock-grass and Balsam-bog are found in Tierra del Fuego; but in the Falkland Islands they are most abundant and luxuriant. The latter plant, commencing as a little herb, and densely tufted like a saxifrage, by gradually and repeatedly branching, and these branches being covered with leaves, and radiating on every side, and all growing to the same length, forms a ball. When still larger, it assumes the form of a hemispherical cushion, rising out of the ground, of a pale yellow-green colour, and very firm substance: the little branches being so densely and uniformly packed together that they present an even surface, of such hardness and compactness that the knuckles may be broken against the mass. These hummocks of living vegetable matter often attain a height of four feet, and an equal or much greater diameter. They are called Balsam-bogs, from their fragrant and resinous smell; or, sometimes misery-balls, because they generally indicate a barren soil. The plant belongs to the same natural order as the carrot (Umbelliferæ): the flowers are similarly produced in little umbels: its striking difference in habit from the northern species of that order, is a character which it shares with some other antarctic plants: they constitute together a group of the Umbelliferæ, almost peculiar to the higher latitudes of the southern hemisphere, or the Andes of South America.
"Neither of the two remarkable species of beech, nor the Winter's bark, the Fuchsia, currant, or barberries, which inhabit Fuegia, are seen in the Falklands. The Veronica elliptica (V. decussata of our gardens) is the only large shrub of the islands, and it is confined to a few bays on the southern and western coasts. A white-flowered Aster-like plant, about four feet high, constitutes the most common shrub of the country; while the little Empetrum rubrum, a species of crowberry, producing a berry very similar to that of its northern congener, and further useful from the facility with which it ignites, even when sodden with rain, covers extensive tracts like heather. A small myrtle, bearing however no resemblance to its classic congener of Italy, creeps over the ground, and produces a sweet and pleasant berry; and a Rubus or bramble, analogous to our R. arcticus and R. saxatilis, but of humbler growth, nestles among the Empetrum, and affords a fruit equal in size and flavour to the raspberry. All these are Fuegian plants, but they are far more abundant in the Falklands. During early spring the banks near the sea are enamelled with a few highly beautiful and conspicuous flowers, such as are chiefly common to Patagonia: they are Oxalis enneaphylla, a wood-sorrel, with blossoms larger than those of the snow- drop; a curious little Calceolaria, bearing a single large flower; a yellow violet; and a Sisyrinchium, which, with the common European Cerastium arvense, whiten the clay-slate banks that skirt the shores of Berkeley Sound. The heaths and grassy lands are spotted, at the same season, with a white primrose, nearly identical with our Primula farinosa: there also grows the above-mentioned Sisyrinchium, of which the nodding white blossoms recall the snow-flake; and a plant, which resembles dandelion, but has white and pleasantly scented flowers, smelling like benzoin, is also abundant.
"Nowhere in the world are Lichens more conspicuous than in the Falklands. The beautiful Usnea melaxantha, also a native of the arctic regions, forms a miniature shrubbery on the tops of naked rocks on the hills; while their sides are coated with many species, almost invariably identical with those of Great Britain. Along the sea beach grow many species of this group, especially a pendent Ramalina, very near the R. scopulorum of Europe, and attaining a length of eight inches: it hangs so copiously from the rocks as in many places to cover them entirely.
"Sea-weeds abound prodigiously on the outer rocky coasts, nor did we elsewhere see such enormous masses of marine vegetation as were cast upon the beach of the east shore of the Falklands. They consist principally of Macrocystis pyrifera, mentioned as a native of Kerguelen's Land, Lessoniæ, and D'Urvillœa utilis. Wrenched from their attachment to the rocks and washed ashore, these sea-weeds become twisted together by rolling in the heavy surf, till they form enormous vegetable cables, much thicker than the human body, and several hundred feet in length. In some parts, the beach is so cumbered with these masses that walking becomes quite laborious; the pedestrian sinks frequently to the knees in the decaying heaps, and animal substance being also caught up, as in a net, the traveller's progress is rendered both offensive and tedious. Many most rare and beautiful sea-weeds may be detected here, either torn from inaccessible rocks far out to sea with the larger kinds, or growing parasitically upon them. The green, pink, and purple lavers of Great Britain may be readily recognised: though many of them are not found in the intervening warm latitudes, they re-appear in the cold seas of the opposite hemisphere; together with others, not exactly the same species, but representatives, in the southern ocean, of those sea-weeds which inhabit the northern. They remind the botanist of home, while they tell him he is not there. One gigantic genus is particularly abundant in the seas near the Falklands and Cape Horn, and surpasses all others in bulk. It is called Lessonia (after the naturalist of Captain Duperrey's expedition), and altogether resembles a tree in its mode of growth. The stem or trunk attaches itself by clasping fibres to the rocks, always beyond high- water mark: it attains a height of eight or ten feet and the thickness of a man's thigh: it branches upwards; and the ends of the branches give out leaves two or three feet long, and barely three inches broad, which, when in the water, hang down like the boughs of a willow. In many places the plant is so copious that it forms a submerged forest. On looking down from a boat through the transparent water where it grows, nothing but a mass of green foliage can be seen. There are several different species of this sea-weed, all attaining great size. The stems, when washed on shore, bear such an exact resemblance to dead wood as quite to deceive the eye: no arguments of mine could dissuade the captain of a merchant brig, with whom I visited a portion of the Falkland Islands, from taking several boat-loads on board his vessel: he was perfectly convinced that this sea-weed would afford, when dried, excellent fuel. A better use is made of it by the Guachos, who shape pieces of the stem into knife-handles; when moist they drive the base of the blade into it, and leaving it to dry, it becomes harder than horn, and no force can sever the instrument from this novel kind of haft. A similar use is made of the large Algæ of Orkney. Though this gigantic and exuberant marine vegetable has hitherto been of little service to man, yet it performs a vast part in the economy of the lower orders of the animal kingdom. No person, who has not actually seen it, can form an idea of the amount of life which is nourished and housed by one of these tree seaweeds. Among the fibres of its clasping roots dwell various kinds of worms, small sponges, corals, crabs, and crustaceæ of different sorts. The stem is incrusted with corals and Flustrae, and often affords a point of attachment for the eggs of fish and molluscæ, besides being adorned with a growth of lesser algae, as mosses cling to the trunks of forest-trees. The leaves are often white from the myriads of Serpulae and other shells, and they harbour various predacious fish, besides yielding a place of retreat to the weaker species.
"The Mosses of the Falklands hardly merit notice, being very few in number, compared with what other Antarctic islands produce. The common Sphagnum, or bog-moss of Europe, is seen; but not so abundantly as the prevalence of peat and bog-earth might seem to infer: nor does it prove the same active agent in producing this kind of soil which it is in Scotland and Ireland. The numerous grasses, the Empetrum, the little myrtle, and some other flowering plants, take a greater share than Sphagnum in the formation of peat in the Falklands; and the soil so composed is perhaps of an equally antiseptic nature as that in the northern regions; for the leaves of some plants may be found uninjured in it at a considerable depth.
"The Ferns consist of very few species, though two of them, Lomaria alpina and L. Magellanica, both Fuegian plants, abound. The former is of small size, but often covers a considerable surface: the latter grows among rocks, and is sub-arborescent, its caudex forming a short stout stem, from the apex of which numerous fronds spread on all sides: it is generally seen in stony places, and has much the aspect of a miniature Zamia.
"Hardly any of the Falkland Island plants are esculent: those which are so have valuable antiscorbutic qualities; particularly the common celery, which abounds on the shores, also a species of Cardamine and Oxalis enneaphylla. Both the latter are called scurvy-grass, and would doubtless prove beneficial in cases of that disease. The lower part of the culm in the tussock is so fleshy and juicy, that, when a tuft of leaves is drawn out from a tussock-bog, an inch of the base, about the thickness of a finger, affords a very sweet morsel, with a flavour like nuts. Two men subsisted almost entirely upon this substance for fourteen months. They had wandered or deserted from their ship upon the West Falkland Island, where there are no habitations. The only protection from the weather that they could avail themselves of, was a hut made of the bogs or masses formed by tufted roots of this plant heaped upon one another: one of which was rolled to the opening at night, and served for a door. The berries of the Empetrum and Myrtus are edible, though ordinary; but the fruit of the Rubus equals a raspberry in size and flavour.
"Some European plants, long ago introduced by persons who have touched on these shores, are now scattered, through the agency of the cattle and horses, all over the eastern islands. I allude particularly to Veronica serpyllifolia, Poa annua, Senecio vulgaris, Cerastium viscosum, and Stellaria media.
"The peculiar mode of growth of the Tussock-grass (Dactylis cæspitosa) enables it to thrive in pure sand, and near the sea, where it has the benefit of an atmosphere loaded with moisture, of soil enriched by decaying sea-weeds, of manure, which is composed in the Falkland Islands of an abundant supply of animal matter, in the form of guano, and of the excrements of numerous birds, who deposit their eggs, rear their young, and find a habitation amongst the groves of Tussock. Its general locality is on the edges of those peat bogs which approach the shore, where it contributes considerably to the formation of peat. Though not universal along the coast of these islands, the quantity is still prodigious, for it is always a gregarious grass, extending in patches sometimes for nearly a mile, but seldom seen, except within the influence of the sea air. This predilection for the ocean does not arise from an incapacity to grow and thrive except close to the salt water, but because other plants not suited to the sea shore already cover the ground in more inland localities, and prevail over it. I have seen the Tussock on inaccessible cliffs in the interior, having been brought there by the birds, and afterwards manured by them; and, when cultivated, it thrives, both in the Falklands and in England, far from the sea.
"I know of no grass likely to yield nearly so great an amount of nourishment as the Tussock, when thoroughly established; in proof of which I quote Lieutenant Governor Moody's printed report, for the truth of which I can vouch, both from my own experience, and from his having kindly given me ample means for judging of the correctness of his interesting and useful observations.
"During several long rides into the country, I have always found the Tussock flourishing most vigorously in spots exposed to the sea, and on soil unfit for any other plant, viz. the rankest peat bog, black or red. It is wonderful to observe the beaten footpaths of the wild cattle and horses, marked like a foot-track across fields in England, extending for miles over barren moor land, but always terminating in some point or peninsula covered with this favourite fodder, amid which one is almost certain to meet with solitary old bulls, or perhaps a herd of cattle; very likely, a troop of wild horses, just trotting off as they scent the coming stranger from afar. To cultivate the Tussock-grass, I should recommend that its seed be sown in patches, just below the surface of the earth, and at distances of about two feet apart; it must afterwards be weeded out, for it grows very luxuriantly, frequently attaining a height of six or seven feet. It should not be grazed, but cut or reaped in bundles. If cut, it quickly shoots again, but is much injured by grazing; for all animals, especially pigs, tear it up, to get at the sweet nutty-flavoured roots. I have not tried how it would be relished if made into hay, but cattle will eat the dry thatch off the roof of a house in winter; their preference to Tussock-grass being so great, that they scent it a considerable distance, and use every effort to get at it. Some bundles, which had been stacked in the yard at the back of Government House, were quickly detected, and the cattle in the village made, every night, repeated attempts to reach them."
"Since the above was written, the Tussock has been used abundantly when made into hay, being preferred by cattle even to the green state of any of the other excellent grasses in the Falklands. Governor Moody informs me that in his garden it grows rapidly, and improves by cutting. There is, however, one drawback to the value of the Tussock: it is a perennial grass of slow growth, and some disappointment has already been experienced in England from this cause. Each Tussock consists of many hundreds of culms, springing together from a mass of roots, which have required a long series of years to attain their great and productive size. Our cultivated specimens in the Royal Gardens of Kew, now nearly three years old, are in a fair way of becoming good Tussocks; for the quantity of stems from each root, the produce of one seed, is incalculably more than any other grass throws up, and these are already forming a ball of root-fibres, which in time will form a mound. But this ball, now scarcely six inches across, and not two in height, must have grown to six or eight feet high, with a diameter of three or four feet; instead of forty culms, there must be four hundred; and the leaves, now three feet long, must attain seven, ere the Tussock of England can compete with its parent in the Falklands. Though, however, the stoles (if I may so call the matted roots of this grass) in the most vigorous native specimens attain a height of seven feet, it is certain they are very productive before they have reached two or three. By the time the leaves have gained their great size, the bases of the culms are nearly as broad as the thumb, and, when pulled out young, they yield an inch or two of a soft, white, and sweet substance, of the flavour of a nut, and so nutritious that two American sealers, who deserted a vessel in an unfrequented part of the Falklands, subsisted on little else for fourteen months.
"Again, the Tussock-grass field, when fully established, must not be grazed indiscriminately by cattle. These creatures and the pigs have already diminished its abundance in the Falklands; for, after devouring the foliage, they eat down the stumps of the culms, greedily following them into the heart of the mass of roots from which they spring, for the sake of the white core just described; the rain-water lodges in the cavity thus formed, and decay so surely follows, that I have seen nearly half a mile of Tussock-grass plants entirely destroyed by no other means.
"Although in the Falklands this plant will grow on the fine sand near the sea, and there reach as great a size as on any other soil, it is not likely to do so in the drier climate of Britain, where the absence of an equally humid atmosphere must be artificially remedied. A wet, light, peaty soil has, in England, been found to favour its growth; sea-weed manure might probably be added with advantage, and certainly guano. Slow its progress assuredly is, but it may be hastened by such stimulants. In the meantime, the cultivator has no just cause for complaint; the plant is already increasing unusually at the base, and thence sending up many more culms than any other grass, though, springing from one small base, they do not make such a show, but form a compact mass of living roots, which, in the case of other gramineæ, would spread over ten times the area that this occupies, and they annually increase in vigour and productiveness; and, lastly, it must be borne in mind, that the farmer here obtains an enormous crop from a very small surface. Each great Tussock is the produce of one seed, and is an isolated individual plant, which, though standing perhaps upon only two square yards of ground, yields annually a produce equal to that of a much greater surface of land, if cropped with hay or clover. The number of seeds required to stock an acre in Tussock and one in grass, is in the proportion of tens to thousands; and we may be well content to know, that the number of months required to ensure a profitable return is not in the same ratio.
"There are few plants which, from perfect obscurity, have become objects of such interest as this grass. The Tussock in its native state seems of almost no service in the animal economy. A little insect, and only one that I observed, depends on it for sustenance; and a bird, no bigger than a sparrow, robs it of its seeds; a few sea-fowl build amongst the shelter of its leaves; penguins and petrels seek hiding-places amongst the roots, because these are soft and easily penetrated; and sea-lions cower beneath its luxuriant foliage: still, except the insect, I know no animal or plant whose extinction could follow the absence of this, the largest vegetable production in the Falklands, which does not support even a parasitical fungus. These same sea birds breed and burrow where no Tussock grows; rocks, elsewhere, suit the sea-lion's habits equally well; and the sparrow, which subsists on other food eleven months of the year, could surely make shift without this for a twelfth. Certain it is, that the Tussock might yet be unknown and unprized amongst plants, if cattle had not been introduced into its locality by man; who thus became, first the injurer, and then the protector and propagator of the existence of this noble grass: for the herbaceous quadrupeds which he carried to the Falklands, and left there, were surely extirpating the Tussock, when man returned, and, by protecting, perpetuating, and transporting it to other countries, he has widely dispersed it. It appears singular that so striking a grass should abound where there is no native herbaceous animal to profit by its luxuriance: but it is no less certain that, had not civilisation interfered, the Tussock might have waved its green leaves undisturbed over the waters of the stormy Antarctic ocean, for ever perhaps, or until some fish, fowl, or seal, should be so far tempted by the luxuriance of the foliage, as to transgress the laws of nature, and adapt its organs to the digestion and enjoyment of this long-neglected gift of a bounteous Providence.
"It must appear strange to all who know grasses only in the pastures of England, that the patches of Tussock resemble nothing so much as groves of small, low palm trees! This similarity arises from the matted roots of the individual plants springing in cylindrical masses, always separated down to the very base, and throwing out a waving head of foliage from each summit. Bogs and damp woods in Britain very frequently produce a sedge (carex paniculata), whose mode of growth is, on a small scale, identical with that of the Tussock-grass, and to which the name of Tussock is applied. I have seen them two or three feet above the ground in South Wales; and if they were higher, larger, and placed close together, the general resemblance would be complete. The effect in walking through a large Tussock grove is very singular, from the uniformity in height of these masses, and the narrow spaces left between them, which form an effectual labyrinth—leaves and sky are all that can be seen overhead, and these curious boles of roots and decayed vegetable matter on both sides, before and behind, except now and then, where a penguin peeps forth from his hole, or the traveller stumbles over a huge sea-lion, stretched along the ground, blocking up his path."
- ↑ Part xxii. p. 385.