The Wager Disaster

by C. H. Layman

  Next morning we had the wind at NNW with fair weather, when we expected the long-boat would have stretched in for the land; but to our great surprise we saw her, with her ensign hoisted at the topping lift, and under sail from us. The moderate weather with the wind off-shore gave them a good opportunity of standing in again, if they had thought fit. Why they did not is best known to themselves: but the most probable reason we could give for such inhuman treatment was, that by lessening the number of their crew they might be better accommodated with room and provisions. Possibly they might apprehend some inhabitants to be near us; but if so, they could be none but Indians. And we could not help looking on it as an act of the greatest cruelty, thus to maroon us under a false pretence of an utter impossibility of taking us on board with them.

  The dismal apprehensions we were under at such an unexpected stroke appeared plainly in our countenances, and can be much easier imagined than described. We found ourselves on a wild desolate part of the world, fatigued, sickly, and destitute of provisions. It is true we had arms and ammunition; and whilst these lasted we made a tolerable shift for a livelihood. The nearest inhabited place we knew of was Buenos Aires, about three hundred miles to the north-west; but at present we were in a very poor condition to undertake so hazardous a journey, being so miserably reduced by our tedious passage through the Straits of Magellan. Nothing remained but to commit ourselves to kind Providence, and make the best of our melancholy situation until we had recruited ourselves.

  We were in number eight who were thus abandoned by our comrades, for whose preservation we had risked our lives in swimming ashore for provisions. Our names were Guy Broadwater, Samuel Cooper, Benjamin Smith, John Duck, Joseph Clinch, John Andrews, John Allen, and myself.

  After deliberating upon our unhappy circumstances, and comforting each other with imaginary hopes, we came to a resolution of taking up our quarters on the beach where we landed, till we should grow strong enough to undergo the fatigue of a journey to Buenos Aires. The weather being very favourable, we took up our lodging in a trench near the sea-side, quite exposed, without any covering but the heavens. Here we stayed about a month, and during that time we lived upon seal, which were very plentiful, and which we knocked down with stones after we had cut off their retreat by getting between them and the sea. Here was likewise plenty of fresh water from a small spring which rose out of the trench, so that at the month’s end we had pretty well recovered ourselves, and concluded upon laying in a stock of provisions for our journey to Buenos Aires.

  Having provided ourselves each with a knapsack of seal-skin, made in the best manner possible, we put into it as much dried flesh of the seal as we could carry; and the bladders of these animals, filled with fresh water, served us for bottles. We took our muskets and ammunition with us, and thus accoutred we set out on our journey about the middle of February; and that we might proceed with the more certainty, we were determined to keep close to the sea-side, until reaching the mouth of the River Plate.

  The first two days we travelled about sixty miles, but could meet with no fresh water besides what we carried along with us, the country being scorched with drought and the rains not yet set in. Our water being near expended, we were afraid to proceed lest we should perish for want of more, so after a few debates, we agreed to return to our old quarters, and wait till the rainy season.

  We were two days and a half on our return, after which we employed ourselves in building a sort of hut under a cliff adjoining the sea-side, to secure us from the inclemencies of the weather. Here we tarried three months, during which time our food was seals and armadillos, which was the only provision to be met with here except sea-weed, which we sometimes made use of with our meat instead of bread.

  The seal here differ from those which I have seen in other parts, both in size and make. The males are of the bigness of a good calf, their neck shaggy, and the head and face somewhat like a lion’s. Before, the females are like lionesses, but their hair is smooth all over like that of a horse, whereas only the hinder parts of the male are smooth. Two large fins like feet grow out from behind, and two more out of the breast, by means of which they can climb rocks and precipices, though they chiefly delight to lie asleep near the shore. Some are fourteen feet long, and very fat, but in general they are about eight feet. The flesh of the young ones is almost as white as lamb, and tolerably good eating. From their shoulders to the tail they taper like a fish, and the females sit on the fins growing out behind when they give suck to their young. Their hair is of different colours, looking very sleek when they first come out of the sea.

  The armadillo is as big nearly as a small sucking-pig, the body of it pretty long. It is enclosed in thick shell which guards all its back and, meeting under the belly, leaving room for the four legs. The head is small, with a nose like a hedgehog. It thrusts out its head before it as it walks, but on any danger withdraws it into the shell, and then lies quite still like a land-turtle, and though you kick her about she will not move herself. With strong claws it digs holes, and burrows in the ground like a rabbit. Its flesh, which tastes much like a turtle, is very good eating.

  Nothing remarkable happened to us in these three months. Our provisions, such as they were, were not very difficult to be procured, and we were supplied with firewood enough from a small coppice about seven miles from us. We seldom failed of bringing home something every night, and generally had a hot supper. We passed our time as cheerful as poor fellows in our circumstances could. But we knew that we could not take up this place for our settled abode; and there was no likelihood of any inhabitants near us, nor for many miles around could we perceive the least traces of any having ever been there. It was to no purpose to expect the sight of any vessel at sea, it being a deep bay and shoal water, and no ship could ever put in there unless forced by stress of weather, and then they must be wrecked. Nothing remained for us but to make a second attempt for the River Plate; because, if we marched to the inland country in quest of inhabitants, possibly we should meet with insuperable difficulties in finding the way back again to what I may call our home, whereas if we kept our course along the sea-shore we could not err. For these reasons we resolved upon making another attempt by the same route; and having laid in our stock of seal, armadillos, and fresh water, towards the latter end of May we set forward once more.

  In three days we travelled about seventy miles, when towards night there came on a violent storm with rain, thunder, and lightning, which continued the whole night. We had a plain open country, and no place of shelter could be found; we had nothing to cover us but a seal-skin jacket, were half-dead with cold, and afraid whether our provisions would hold out, for we met with no supplies of any kind by the way. To proceed farther was only lengthening our journey back again, which we feared would be the consequence at last, even though we should still push on.

  There had been the strictest harmony and good-nature between us till now, but now we were like to have disagreed, even to parting. Some were for pushing forward, be the event what it might, and it was with much difficulty they were persuaded not to divide. However, on a representation of the great distance which we were as yet from the mouth of the river, and the improbability of meeting with supplies on the journey, our debates ended. We jointly concluded on making the best of our way back to our hut, having been a second time disappointed in our attempt.

  Arriving at our old quarters, we began to consult what measures to take for our security from the inclemencies of the weather, and to provide for our subsistence till it should please God, one way or other, to deliver us out of this melancholy situation. In order to avoid disputes about the laborious part of getting provisions, we agreed to divide ourselves into two parties, who should alternately provide for the whole. Four were appointed to scour the country one day, and the other four the next. And we bound ourselves by an oath never to quit each other unless obliged by a superior force; for, though we had yet seen no footsteps of inhabitants, we could not be certain that there were no
ne on this part of the globe.

  We had killed such a number of seal that they now became very shy of us, and had lived upon them so long that we were almost surfeited, yet there was hardly anything else to be met with. We saw a great number of wild dogs, but could never come near enough for us to kill any, though now and then we chanced to shoot a puppy, which, as it was a change of diet, we thought delicious fare. We saw also some deer, but could contrive no method of taking them.

  One day, in our rambles, we found a litter of young puppies; they were but three, and seemed to be about two months old, and had taken shelter in a hole of one of the sand-hills. We took them out, and brought them home to our hut. Having discovered that these puppies were whelped in holes like those of rabbits, but larger, we went out all next day in quest of more. We had the good luck to find three litters, in number thirteen, which we carried home with us, designing if possible to bring them up tame. We fed them with broth made of seal, and sometimes with the flesh minced small; and they afterwards became very serviceable to us. Each of us had his brace of dogs, which were brought up under as much command as an English spaniel, nor would they leave us to associate with the wild ones. They often supplied us with armadillos, and once they killed a deer for us.

  Being one day hunting we saw some wild hogs with their young. Our dogs pursued them, took two of the young which we saved alive, and we shot one of the old ones, which afforded us many dainty suppers. The two young proved to be a boar and a sow, which was very fortunate, and we designed to rear them for breeding, lest we should be obliged to make a long residence in this desolate country. We brought them up very tame, insomuch that they followed our dogs whenever we went a-hunting, and at night both dogs and pigs took up their lodging with us in our hut.

  For the present our condition seemed tolerable; nay, we thought ourselves in very comfortable circumstances; we wanted for nothing, and, if we could have confined our thoughts to present enjoyments, our situation was very agreeable. But our views went farther, and the fears of what might happen frequently struck a damp on our pleasures. Winter was now approaching: we had the inclemencies of the season to guard against, and, if possible, a stock of provisions to be laid up against future exigencies. But we could not be much beforehand with provisions, having no salt to cure them, and at present not sun enough to dry them; for with winter came on continual storms, insomuch that some days we could not stir out of our hut.

  Chapter 13

  Four Murders

  Argentine Patagonia, August 1742. Morris and his companions encounter wild beasts. Four of the party are murdered or abducted by Indians, the hut plundered, and their firearms stolen. The remainder immediately resolve to make a third desperate attempt to reach Buenos Aires, but find the swamps completely impassable, and return with foreboding to their old hut. They start trying to make a canoe out of a fallen tree, but suddenly Indians appear menacingly on horseback.

  From Midshipman Morris’s account

  It was now more than seven months since the long-boat left us. Winter came on very fast, and we were but badly secured from the severity of the weather. We resolved immediately to put our habitation in order, and to secure our hut in the best manner we could. Accordingly it was agreed that six should stay at home next day to prepare materials, and only two go out after provisions. The lot fell on myself and John Duck to go abroad, but though we travelled many miles, all the game we could meet was three armadillos. It was so dark before we returned that we despaired of finding our hut, and were like to have taken up our lodging in the open plain if our comrades had not come out in quest of us, and by making a fire directed us towards them. After we had broiled our game and fed heartily, about 12 we went to sleep. But about two in the morning a violent storm, with rain, thunder, and lightning, threw down upon us part of the cliff under which we had built our hut, which was very near proving fatal to all of us. Through Providence none were hurt.

  With daylight came on tolerable weather, and now the first thing we had to do was to rebuild our hut. We immediately went to the coppice where we used to fetch our firewood in order to fell some poles. As we had but one hatchet betwixt us only one could fell them, and the rest of us brought them out and bundled them. We had cut several, and were bundling them, when we saw Joseph Clinch running out of the wood, and crying, “Lord have mercy on us, here’s a great tiger!”[1] We were in the utmost consternation; for having frequently been there before and never once seeing any footsteps of wild beasts, we came without our arms, suspecting no danger from that quarter. We all took to our heels, and soon saw the tiger running out of the wood in pursuit of us. When he was come within twenty yards of us, finding it impossible to escape, we all turned towards him, clapping our hands and making a loud halloo in order to frighten him, which had the desired effect, for he immediately sat back on his tail gazing at us. What to do we knew not, whether it was best to fly or to wait for his turning; but fear prevailed, and we walked gently off, without his pursuing us. Next day we all went in chase of the brute with our muskets, but could not meet with him. Therefore we brought home our poles, and fitted up the hut in the best manner we could, sufficient to guard us from the rain.

  About three weeks after, when we were hunting on the plain about four miles from home, we saw a lion[2] couched on the ground watching his prey, as we imagined, it being close by a wild cat’s hole. We joined close together in a body, with our muskets ready, and Joseph Clinch, resting his piece on my shoulder, fired a ball at twenty yards, but missed him. The lion took no notice of the report of the gun, nor stirred from his position. Then Clinch loaded a second time, those of the others being kept in readiness in case the animal should advance towards us. He fired, and shot him in the right shoulder. He fell on his back, and we ran to him and knocked him on the head with the bones of a dead horse which lay near him. We carried him to our hut, dressed the heart and part of the ribs, but it was very indifferent eating.

  Finding ourselves beginning to be surrounded by wild beasts, and every day and night in continual danger (for we now seldom went abroad without meeting some beast of prey, this being I suppose the time of year when they take their haunts towards the sea-coast), we determined to make another push for our deliverance, and try our fortune once more in an expedition to Buenos Aires. So we provided ourselves shoes and jackets of seal-skin, and also knapsacks to carry our provender. The weather was set in fair, and we fully determined to lay in such a stock of provisions as should last to the end of our journey, if we should be a month in performing it. We divided ourselves into two parties, four of us were to go to the rocks for seal, and the other four to hunt on the plain.

  Accordingly we set out early in the morning; and it was my lot, with Samuel Cooper, John Andrews, and John Duck, to go to the rocks. Our usual way of killing seal being with stones or clubs, we never carried our muskets with us. We had been out all day, and killed three; and in the dusk of the evening having got within a stone’s-cast of our hut, I perceived our dogs very busy at a small distance wagging their tails in a very fondling manner. Being ahead of my companions I passed on without much regarding it, thinking they had lighted on a dead colt; but when I came to the hut I was quite confounded: the hut was rifled, and all our necessaries taken away. In the utmost consternation I ran back to my comrades, whom I saw standing where I had left the dogs; seeing me running eagerly towards them, they cried out, “What’s the matter, Isaac?” I told them our hut was pulled down, and everything taken away.

  “Aye,” said they, “and something worse has happened, for yonder lie poor Guy Broadwater and Benjamin Smith murdered.” It was a most shocking sight: one had his throat cut, and the other was stabbed in the breast. They were hardly cold, so that we thought the murderers could not be far off; and were under no small apprehensions of sharing a like fate. We went to inspect the hut more narrowly, and we found everything taken away, our powder, ball, and muskets gone, the fire extinguished, and not the least utensil left. Where to go, or what to do, we knew not.
We durst not trust ourselves another night on this fatal spot, and yet were afraid to venture farther. At last we came to the resolution of proceeding to the next sandy bay, about a mile off, and taking up our quarters there for that night. But when there we could find no shelter, not so much as a cliff to lie under, so were obliged to return to our old place, and pass the night there, happen what would.

  Next morning, the dogs that belonged to our comrades stood on the top of the cliff barking at us, and would not come down, though we called them by their names; and it was with difficulty that we enticed them down in the evening. What became of Joseph Clinch and John Allen we knew not, nor could we afterwards learn any account of them. What seemed most probable to us was that the Indians had carried them off and murdered the other two, who possibly might make some resistance, as we had all agreed to do in case we should be attacked. But if so, we might probably have expected to have found some or other of their enemies killed, as our people had firearms with them. And it was impossible, too, it could be the result of a quarrel among themselves from the manner of their death; for the one was stabbed, and the other had his throat cut, both very plainly done with a knife, an instrument none of us had possession of. We buried them in the best manner we could, by scraping away the light sand with our hands two feet deep, and raising a bed of sand over the corpses.

  This was the most afflicting stroke of any we had received since our residence in this unhappy country. I will not attempt to describe the horror we felt; the compassionate reader will paint our distress in his imagination in stronger colours than can be described by words. To see four of our companions snatched suddenly from us, we knew not how, ourselves deprived of our arms and utensils, left without fire or any method of procuring it, expecting every moment to share their fate, or to be starved to death, filled us with unspeakable terrors.