31st August 1832

First Cruise

By the middle of the day we got within surveying distance of the coast. We let go the anchor: but the sky clearing we soon had a regular dry SW wind. The anchor would not hold in the sand and we were forced again to stand out. To night it has lulled, & we have anchored. Tomorrow I trust we shall be enabled to continue the survey, which has been interrupted for a week. At last I find myself decidedly much less afraid of sea-sickness, although during two of the days I was on my "beam ends".

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From 1st September, I intend to add additional notes from the Journals of both Captain Robert Fitzroy and (the eventual Darwin Assistant) Syms Covington. These will be clearly marked and in red. (Comments welcomed of course)

30th August 1832

First Cruise
Very wet day: about noon it fell calm, & we could hear the surf roaring although about 6 miles distant from the beach. The weather looked exceedingly threatening; but after all it did not blow more than a stiff breeze during the night.

29th August 1832

First Cruise
The morning was thick with rain: but in the afternoon in spite of the remaining swell, some miles of the coast were traced. At night the weather looked dirty & we have stood out to sea.

This day last year, I arrived home from North Wales & first heard of this Voyage. During the week it has often struck me how different was my situation & views then to what they are at present: it is amusing to imagine my surprise, if anybody on the mountains of Wales had whispered to me, this day next year you will be beating off the coast of Patagonia: and yet how common & natural an occurrence it now appears to me. Nothing has made so vivid an impression on my mind as those days of painful uncertainty: the clearness with which I recollect the most minute particulars, gives to the period of an year the appearance of far shorter duration. But if I pause & in my mind pass from month to month, the time fully grows proportional to the many things which have happened in it.

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[Image: JMW Turner's "Waves Breaking on a Lee Shore"]

28th August 1832

First Cruise
During the night the weather moderated &this morning we stood in again for the shore. By the time we got within a few miles of the land it was almost calm, but the swell from the ocean was extraordinarily great. This is what might be expected from the gradual shoaling of the water. The surf on the beach was proportionally violent: for 1/4 of a mile the sea was white with foam & a cloud of spray traced for many miles the line of coast. As it was impossible to take observations, we are this evening again standing out to sea, patiently to wait till the elements are quiet.

26th & 27th August 1832

First Cruise
Torrents of rain & the atmosphere was so thick, that it was impossible to continue the survey, we remained therefore at anchor. The bottom was rocky & in consequence plenty of fish: almost every man in the ship had a line overboard & in a short time a surprising number of fine fish were caught. I also got some Corallines which were pre-eminently curious in their structure. We had to day a beautiful illustration how useful the Barometer is at sea. During the last three or four fine days it has been slowly falling. the Captain felt so sure, that shortly after it began to rise we should have the wind from the opposite quarter, the South, that when he went to bed he left orders to be called when the Barometer turned.

Accordingly at one o’clock it began to rise, & the Captain immediately ordered all hands to be piped up to weigh anchor. In the course of an hour from being a calm it blew a gale right on shore, so that we were glad enough to beat off. By the morning we were well out at sea; so with snug sail cared little for the breeze or the heavy swell. If we had not a Barometer, we probably should have remained two hours longer at anchor, & then if the gale had been a little harder we should have been in a most dangerous situation. As it was, the sea was very heavy & irregular, it fairly pitched our Howitzer out of the slide into the sea. This was not our only misfortune, as in weighing ship, we tore our anchor into pieces & quite disabled it for use.

25th August 1832

First Cruise
We have made an excellent run of 70 miles to day. Indeed the breeze to my taste was much too good, as it prevented us from attempting to land at Cape Corrientes, which we doubled at Noon. We sailed very close to the shore, & it was very interesting viewing the different countries as we rapidly passed on. North of Corrientes, a dead level line of cliff takes the place of the sand hillocks. The cliff is perpendicular & about 30 feet high, & with a few exceptions is continued all the way South of the Cape. From the mast-head a great extent of flat Pampas was seen without any break or elevation. To every one’s astonishment there was near the promontory of Corrientes an Estancia. Cattle were very abundant near the house, & the place looked prosperous. We have heard they have 50,000 head. Two or three men on horseback were watching us with great interest: so we hoisted our pennant & colours, & doubtless for the first time they had ever been seen in this sea. This farm must be about 200 miles from any town, & the greater part of the interval consists in desert salt plains. There cannot easily be imagined a more desolate habitation for civilized man.

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24th August 1832

First Cruise
We have made a good run; at last. North of Cape of Corrientes the coast in a small degree has altered its appearance: instead of the undulating chain of sand-hillocks, the horizon is bounded by low table land. This being divided by broads, gaps or valleys, presents so many square masses.

We have seen during the day the smoke from several large fires within the country: it is not easy to guess how they arise. It is too far North for the Indians & the country is uninhabited by the Spaniards. The sun set in a cloudless sky; & there is every prospect of the Northerly wind lasting; if so tomorrow we shall double Corrientes & if we can land in the boats on the promontory.

22nd & 23rd August 1832

First Cruise
All day we have been sailing within two or three miles off the coast. For 40 miles it has been one single line of sandy hillocks, without any break or change. The country within is uninhabited, & ships never frequent this track, so that it is the most desolate place I have ever visited. At sunset, before anchoring, we came rather suddenly on a bank, & were obliged instantly to put the ship up to the wind. This fine weather is of the greatest importance to the surveying & as long as it lasts, sailing slowly along the coast is sufficient for all purposes.

The weather continues most beautiful: a bank of clouds in the SW frightened us in the morning but now at night we are at an anchor in a calm. No people have such cause anxiously to watch the state of weather as Surveyors. Their very duty leads them into the places which all other ships avoid & their safety depends on being prepared for the worst. Every night we reef our top-sails so as to lose no time if a breeze should force us to move. Yesterday morning getting up the anchor & securing it & setting all sail only took us five minutes. We have not made much progress during the day; for we have tacked all the time parallel to the coast.

21st August 1832

First Cruise
In middle of day anchored near Point Piedras, & sent our boats to sound. Shortly after getting under way, the water suddenly shoaled & we grazed the bottom rather too sensibly. In calm weather this is of little consequence, but when there is any sea, it does not take long to knock a hole in the bottom. The coast was very low, & covered with thickets. The extreme similarity of different parts of the banks is the chief cause of the difficulty of navigating this river. The weather has been beautifully clear during these last two days. I do not believe there has been one single cloud in the heavens. Several land-birds took refuge in the rigging, such as larks, fly-catchers, doves & butcher-birds & all appeared quite exhausted. To night we have anchored North of Cape St Antonio, as soon as we double this we shall be in the open ocean. Already the water has lost its ugly muddy colour.

20th August 1832

First Cruise
In the afternoon we anchored 8 miles off Point Piedras on the Southern shore of the river. At this distance there was only 18 feet water. The Captain intends at present verifying the leading points in the coast. The Spaniards on shore having already filled up the details. Any minute knowledge of an almost uninhabited coast where shipping cannot approach, will never be of any great value.

19th August 1932

First Cruise
In the morning there was a fresh breeze from the NW. A wind in this direction soon empties the river. At night we had 18 feet under our stern, in the morning only 13. From this cause, independently of intending to sail in the course of the day, it was advisable to move our anchorage.

The instant we had tripped our anchor the wind drifted us within a few yards of the buoy which marks the old wreck. Then is the time to watch sailors working: one foul rope & we should have been on shore. The sailors in the city were saying, ‘A dios Barca Inglese, A Dios’. A merchant ship certainly would have had no chance of escaping: but with our body of men it is the work of a second to set sail & get way on the ship. This has been for me the first specimen of working off a lee-shore with a stiff breeze blowing.

During the morning we tacked about, waiting for the weather to moderate & at last again anchored. In the afternoon we sent on board the Packet some parcels &c & my box of specimens, & the boats returning from shore, we made sail. A fine breeze carried us 40 miles from the Mount, where we anchored for the night. In such shoal water as in the Plata the sea is very short; I have never seen so much spray break over the Beagle & I have not often felt a more disagreeable sensation in my stomach.

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[Image - Clawing off a Lee Shore]

18th August 1832

Montevideo
Several officers are on shore & cannot yet come off. The Captain however ventured to sail to Rat Island to obtain sights. It was beautiful to see how the whale-boat hops over the sea. In returning he carried away the yard of his sail.

17th August 1932

Montevideo
All day & night it has blown a stiff breeze from the South. There have been several hail-storms, which forms our first introduction to frozen water. A sea soon gets up in the river & from its little depth the waves become so muddy that they look like mountains of mud. This riding with our head to wind shakes the very foundation of my stomach.

16th August 1832

Montevideo
Spent the day in examining the rich produce of yesterdays labour. The Beagle goes to sea the day after tomorrow for her first cruise.