11th October 1835

Captain Fitzroy’s Journal
How remarkably different is the climate of the windward and leeward islands of this group! Here we were enveloped by clouds and drizzling fog, and wore cloth clothes. At Tagus Cove and James Island, a hot sun, nearly vertical, overpowered us; while the south side of Albemarle, Charles, and Chatham Islands, were almost always overshadowed by clouds, and had frequent showers of rain. We anchored close to the watering place: but it appeared strange to remain at anchor in such a spot, only three cables' lengths from a surf breaking high upon a steep cliffy shore, with nothing but the ocean between us and the antarctic; and such was our position; yet it was a safe one, because the great south-west swell of the Pacific is interrupted by Hood Island, and the southerly trade, or perennial wind is so moderate, that it has neither power to raise a sea nor to harm a vessel lying at anchor, if her ground tackle is not defective.