Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Herald during the years 1845-51, under the command of Captain H. Kellett ... being a circumnavigation of the globe, and three cruises to the Arctic Regions in search of Sir J. Franklin

Front matter

NARRATIVE OP THE VOYAGE OF H. M.S. HERALD. FnntedbyB-allraaiidel&Wihxtii H. M.S. HERALD AND PLOVER IN BEHRING'S STRAIT NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD DTJEING THE TEAES 1845-51, UNDER THE COMMAND OF CAPTAIN HENRY KELLETT, R.N., C.B.; BEING 2J Cirrumnautsation of tlje (Klohc, AND THREE CRUIZES TO THE ARCTIC REGIONS IN SEARCH OP SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. V,\ BERTHOLD SEEMANN, E.L.S., MEMBER OP THE IMPERIAL L. C. ACADEMY NATTTHÆ CURIOSORTTM, NATURALIST OP THE EXPEDITION, ETC. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : REEVE AND CO., HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1853. PRINTED BY JOHN EDWARD TAYXOR, IITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS. TO SIR WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, K.H., D.C.L. OXON., LL.D., F.R.A.S., A., AND L.S., VICE-rK£SIDENT OF THE EINNEAN SOCIETY, AND DIRECTOR OF THE BOYAL GARDENS, KEW, etc. etc., WHOM SCIENCE NUMBERS AMONGST ITS MOST ARDENT PROMOTERS, AND TO WHOM THE AUTHOR IS SO DEEPLY INDEBTED FOR HIS GENEROUS ENCOURAGEMENT AND BEADY* ASSISTANCE, THIS Narrattue of the Uogagc of $ja.£. 2?eralti IS DEDICATED, WITH FEELINGS OF ESTEEM AND GRATITUDE, BY BERTHOLD SEEMANN.

Preface

. In July, 1846, after the death of Mr. Thomas Edmonston, I had the honour of being appointed Naturalist of H. M.S. Herald, — having been recommended to that office by Sir W. J. Hooker,— and directed to join the vessel at Panama. Proceeding by one of the West India Mail Steamers to Chagres, I crossed over the Isthmus, and arrived at the city of Panama on the 22nd of September. The Herald not having returned from the Straits of Juan de Fuca, I employed my time in exploring various districts of Panama and Veraguas, a task which was rendered comparatively easy by the assistance I received from Her Majesty's Consul, William Perry, Esq., to whom I had a letter of introduction from Lord Palmerston. In January, 1847, the Herald returned to Panama, and from that time, until she was paid off, I accompanied her. On the return of the expedition to England, a reprc-

PREFACE.

. VIII sensation was made to Her Majesty's Government by several men of eminence, that science would be greatly benefited if the various collections of Natural History formed during the voyage could be brought before the public in a manner worthy of the times and the country. The Government responded to these wishes by granting a sum of money to defray part of the expenses of such a publication, and Professor Edward Forbes, with a dis interested zeal truly praiseworthy, volunteered to edit the zoological section, while I engaged to undertake the phytological. These works are partly before the public, and may, together with the series of charts laid down in our survey, and issued by the Hydrographical Office, and the present Narrative, be looked upon as the prin cipal result of the voyage. It is but fair however to state, both in justice to the Captain who conducted the expedition and to the officers engaged in it, that a great mass of the materials still remain unpublished.

The nautical, meteorological, magnetical, astronomical, and other observations are so numerous that they woidd fill several thick quarto volumes, and could not possibly be comprised within the limits of an appendix to this Narrative • but it is to be hoped that they will not be lost to science. The present Narrative was to have been written by the

PREFACE.

. IX Commander of the expedition; but as Captain Kellett was called upon to renew the search for Sir John Franklin's Expedition, and all those officers of the Herald who were either willing or able to perform the part of historian of the voyage had left these shores, I was compelled to engage in an undertaking for which I fear I was but ill qualified. I have commenced it the more reluctantly because I am fully aware of the difficulties. Formerly, when everything was new and striking, both to the author and the reader, an amusing and instructive work was easily written. But now, nearly every school-boy is able to give a tolerably accurate account of the most remote corners of the globe, and if a traveller wants to bring forward something new, he must dive into details which, valuable as they may be to science, are not always appreciated by the general reader.

The materials from which this work has been compiled are not so rich as could be wished. That portion of Captain Kellett's journal relating to the first volume is entirely wanting, and cannot, in the absence of its author, be procured. Commander J. Wood's diary has not been sent to me, and this must be considered as the reason why the movements of the Pandora are not more frequently alluded to. Lieutenant (now Com mander) Henry Trollope made ample notes during the X

PREFACE.

. first year of the voyage, which have supplied the sub stance of the account of the cruize of the Herald during that period. Mr. Bedford Pirn kept a journal when in the Arctic regions, and also during his journey with me in Peru and Ecuador, of which I have been allowed to avail myself. Mr. Whiffin, Mr. Jago, and Mr. Hull have supplied me with extracts from their diaries, and Mr. Chimmo with the illustrations for this work. I have thought it the more necessary to make this state ment, in order to escape the charge of having given precedence to my own journal, Avhich, in many instances, was the only source of information. As I did not join the Herald before January, 1847, and had to write an account of the voyage from the beginning, I submitted the proof-sheets relating to the Brazils, the Falkland Isles, Chile., and Peru, to Dr. J. D. Hooker and John Miers, Esq., who, having themselves explored those countries, wTere kind enough to point out any inaccuracies they detected, and add here and there a passage calculated to improve my account.

I have also had the advantage of the valuable assistance of Commander H. Trollope, who looked over every proof sheet, and have derived great benefit from the liberality of Sh* William Hooker, who permitted me to consult his extensive library and Herbarium.

PREFACE.

. XI Fact is the object I have aimed at throughout the fol lowing pages, on the strict adherence to which will rest their sole recommendation. If however, while abstaining from all fictitious colouring, and with a paucity of ad venture, I have succeeded in producing an arrangement not inharmonious or displeasing, I shall have attained a position far beyond that to which I have been carried by my most flattering hopes or sanguine expectations. Kew Green, December 31, 1852. Pagrr 1 CONTENTS.

Chapter I

Departure from England — Madeira — Porto Santo — Desertas - — Teneriffe — A Ship in distress — San Antonio — Soundings — Fernando de Noronha — The Jangadas— Rio Janeiro

Chapter II

Departure from Rio de Janeiro — Fort of Santa Cruz — Falkland Islands — Passage round Cape Horn — Valdivia — Wreck of H. M.S. Challenger — Concepcion — Talcahuano — Old Conception — Aconcagua — Valparaiso . . . . .20

Chapter III

Papudo Bay — Departure for Peru — Callao — Road to the capital — Lima — Arrival of H.M.St.S. Cormorant — Leaving Callao — The Lobos Islands — Payta — Santa Clara . . . .41

Chapter IV

The Galapagos Islands — Charles Island — James Island — Chatham Island — Coast of Ecuador — Bay of Atacamas — Ramble in the forest — Mr. T. Edmonston — His death and a sketch of his life — River Esmeraldas — Gallo Island . . . . .54 CONTENTS. Page 72 9.-,

Chapter V

Boundary line of Nueva Granada — Commencement of the Survey — Bay of Choco — River Iscuande — Gorgona — Buenaventura —The Vinda of St. Peter and St. Paul— Bay of Panama

Chapter VI

City of Panama — Ruins of Panama Viejo — The islands of Flaminco, Taboga, and Taboguilla — Departure for the Straits of Juan de Fuca — Coyba — Death of seamen — An American vessel — Seaweed — Cape Flattery rocks ...... 84

Chapter VII

Cape Flattery rocks — Tatooche Island — Indians — Entrance into the Straits of Juan de Fuca — Historical notice — Port Victoria — Harbour of Esquimalt — Fort of Victoria — Port Discovery — Townshend — New Dungeness — Quadra's and Vancouver's Islands — Race Islands — Neagh Bay — Departure for the South .

Chapter VIII

Cape Mendocino — San Francisco — Visit to the Mission — Monterey — Islands on the coast of Lower California — Excursion on Cerros Island — Mazatlan — Tepic — San Bias . . . .113

Chapter IX

Siguantenejo — A party taken prisoner by the Mexicans — Don Vicente Amaro — Mr. Wood proceeds to Acapulco — Captivity — Departure — Acapulco — Death of William Harris — Cape Velas —Coast of Nueva Granada — Arrival at Panama . . .126

Chapter X

Survey of the western coast of Nueva Granada — Return to Panama —Departure for Peru— Coyba— Iguana Island — Payta— Callao — Viscount d'Ozery — Lima — Payta — Journey through the desert — Piura — Travelling in the interior . . .139 CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XVI

Geographical Position of the Isthmus of Panama — Boundaries — Extent of Surface — Coast — Islands — Tides — Charts and Maps — Rivers — General Aspect of the Country — Geology — Metals — Gold -Mines — Salines — Volcanoes — Earthquakes — Hot Springs — Climate — Winds — Waterspouts .... 231

Chapter I

Departure from England — Madeira — Porto Santo — Desertas — Teneriffe — A Ship in distress — San Antonio — Soundings — Fernando de Noronha — The Jangadas — Rio Janeiro. On Thursday, June 26th, 1845, H.M.S. Herald, twenty six guns, under the command of Captain Henry Kellett, C.B., accompanied by her tender, the Pandora, Lieutenant Commander James Wood, sailed from Plymouth Sound. It was fine and clear, but heavy clouds were gathering in the south-west, and on the following day she was visited in the chops of the Channel by a gale with all its accompaniments — the topgallant masts and yards on deck ; barometer down to 29-48 • wind, sea, mist, rain, and fog. This weather, with occasional gleams of sunshine, con tinued until the 4th of July, when we were off Cape VOL. I. b [July, 2 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD.

Finisterre*. The land was in sight for two days, and we approached it near enough to meet many Spanish barques, brigs, and schooners, mostly fine-built vessels, but slovenly in sails and rigging. On the 7th of July we exchanged, by Marryatt's sig nals, numbers with the Thames steam-vessel, sailing and steaming for Madeira and the West Indies. On the 11th we sighted Porto Santo, a barren rocky spot, but, as its name indicates, viewed by its first tempest-tossed discoverers with thankful hearts, when, in their endeavours to circumnavigate Africa, they were driven out to sea, and on the point of perishing. The island, when discovered, was, according to some accounts, inhabited ; according to others, desolate. In 1418 Don Henry of Portugal caused it to be colonized, and Perestrello, a gentleman of the Prince's household, was appointed its first governor.

Observing from time to time a cloud to the south-west, the settlers sailed to examme it, and dis covered Madeira, The superior advantages of that island caused Porto Santo to be neglected, and Madeira resumed its intercourse with Europe. We say resumed, because, as the story goes, in the reign of Edward II. an Englishman named Machim fled to it -with his newly married wife, the beautiful Anna d'Arfet. Love how ever, it seems, was not sufficient to compensate for the many hardships they had to undergo, and the many privations to which they were exposed, as both, it is stated, died of grief. Some corroboration to this strange * Our observations verified what has been commonly remarked in the passage across the Bay of Biscay, — that there is an easterly current of about half a mile an hour. 1845.J 3 DESERTAS TENERIFFE. story is lent by there being on the south-east coast a place called Machio or Machico*.

Porto Santo appears at first sight like two islands. Passing to the eastward, the town on its southern coast has a conspicuous and pleasing aspect ; the church tower being very prominent gives an air to the place which probably would hardly be borne out on closer accpiaintance. The island pro duces corn, but is said to be deficient in good water ; it contains 1600 or 1700 people, and its anchorage is, in the winter, preferable to that of Funchal. The highest peak is 1600 feet above the sea. The Desertas were seen at noon. They bear south east eleven miles from Madeira, and are three in number, perfectly barren, and only frequented by fishermen, who repair thither for collecting Orchil. The northernmost isle is a high pyramidal rock, often mistaken for a sail, which indeed it much resembles.

From the Desertas the Salvages bear south 17°, east 145°. We did not sight the latter, although it was rather wished to do so ■ a fresh breeze from the eastward appeared to cause a corre sponding set to the westward, and thus prevented us from carrying out our intention. At daylight on the 13th of July the Peak of Teneriffe was in sight — a grand and solitary object, towering in all the pride of desolation ; for though there is a vast deal of fertility, it is not very apparent from seaward, and the island seems almost to rival Ascension in ruggedness and aridity. The breeze was so strong in the offing, that it was necessary to reef topsails ; but it fell light and * Barbeau, however, says it was known to the ancients under the name of Clone Atlantice. — Mappe-Monde Historique, 1759. B [July, 4 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. variable as our vessels neared Santa Cruz.

We anchored about noon. The town of Santa Cruz is famous in naval history. Robert Blake, an Oxonian, a member of Par liament, a colonel, and an admiral, there performed his most adventurous and daring action. On the 20th of April, 1657, he attacked and utterly destroyed the Span ish fleet strongly placed under the batteries, and, aided by a sudden shift of wind, drew off his squadron with comparatively little loss. This singularly gallant exploit, after a career unparalleled for daring, was performed while suffering from dropsy and scurvy. If there is one name in English history commanding admiration for all the qualities which became a man, for goodness and greatness combined, it is that of the soldier-admiral, whom the great Protector and the noble historian of the Royalist cause have alike united to honour.

It was a sudden shift of wind that led Nelson to undertake the expedition against Teneriffe ; an expedi tion which, unsuccessful and disastrous as it was, displayed the most exalted heroism, and showed a generous enemy able to appreciate the merits of an opponent, and not carrying warfare beyond certain limits. There are few more interesting episodes than the interview of Captain Samuel Flood with Don Juan Guttierez, in the citadel of Santa Cruz, when the boldness and presence of mind of the Englishman was met by the generosity and admiration of the Spaniard. The tattered remains of some of the English ensigns are retained in the church, and the inhabitants still bear in mind the attack and repidse of the 24th of July, 1797. On the 15th of July, at daylight, we made sail. 1845.] 5 SHIP IN DISTRESS SAN ANTONIO.

So light and variable was the wind, that we were baffled for some time under the land, and it was not until ten or eleven a. m. that the breeze became steady from east-north-east. The trade-wind took us smoothly and delightfully along to the south-west, and at sunset we lost sight of the Peak, about forty miles distant. On the following day we fell in with a Spanish schooner of twenty-five or thirty tons, which sent a boat to us ask ing for water. Having been fishing under Cape Blanco for mullet, bream, rock cod, snappers, and soles, the vessel had been blown off the African shore by strong south-east breezes, and been six weeks from Gran Ca naria. She was nearly full, but in sad want in other respects. In the wretched craft there were upwards of twenty people, living more like savages than civilized men.

Their only instrument appeared to be a compass, and having got off their reckoning, they would have suf fered great distress had we not accidentally relieved them. In addition to water, Captain Kellett gave them a bag of bread, so that their mishap proved their gain. Meeting the frail barque on this spot and in distress reminded us of Prince Henry's early navigators and their sufferings, in attempting to round the terrible Cape Boiador. A heavy surf prevails on this coast, and landing is both dangerous and difficult, and falling in with this vessel gave some notion of what navigation must have been in the caravels and pinnaces of former days. The trade-wind took us smoothly along six or seven knots an hour. On the 21st of July, the peak of San Antonio, which, according to Owen, is 9700 feet above the sea, was in sight.

The wind fell light as we ap- [July, 6 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. proached the island — an occurrence so common, that it is given as a reason for avoiding the group : with us, however, it soon freshened, but we stood off west for a few hours to clear the isle. Except Santiago, San Anto nio is the largest of the Cape de Verde Islands, and Ter rafal Bay, at its south-east extremity, is said to be a most convenient place for obtaining refreshments. Charles Darwin, the companion of Captain Fitzroy, notices the peculiarly hazy appearance of the atmosphere, and attri butes it to an impalpable dust which constantly falls, even on vessels far out at sea. This dust is of a brown colour, and supposed to be produced from the wear and tear of volcanic rocks, either among the islands or on the African coast.

The drier the atmosphere, the more extensive is the dusty cloud. On Friday, the 25th of July, in 11° north and 24° west, we lost the trade-wind, and calms, light winds, and heavy rain prevailed for the next two days. From Sunday, the 27th, in 9° north and 23° west, south-west breezes were more steady than could be expected in " the Variables." We encountered a head sea and sharp squalls, with occasional showers, untfl the 1st of August, when the south-west hauled into the trade in 6° north, 24° west. A disagreeable head-swell still continued ; the trade-wind had much southing in it. We were rather far to the westward, and began to feel anxious about Cape San Roque. The passage between Africa and America is a broad one ; still vessels have been set to leeward, and obliged to bear up for Barbadoes.

On the 5th of August we crossed the line in 29° 15' west, and on the following day, in 2° south and 30° west, 1845.] 7 SOUNDINGS. in the middle watch, the look-out man reported breakers. These appeared to be luminous bands in the water, stretching north-east and south-west, so like reefs or over-falls, that, had we been less sure of our position, we might well have imagined them to be such. At intervals of 200 or 300 yards we continued passing these streaks or bands for upwards of an hour ; they quite illumined the sea, and presented a brilliant spectacle. In a dark night we were able faintly to distinguish writing, holding a watch-bill over the gangway. This fact will perhaps give a notion of the mass of light they emitted. On the 7th of August, in lat. 2° 32' south and long. 30° 53' west, the pinnace was hoisted out to try for soundings in the deep sea, Her windlass had 3500 fathoms of five-yam spunyarn wound round it, and the sinker was iron ballast.

When it had taken 2995 fathoms out, it stopped ; thirty or forty fathoms more were paid out, and the boat drifted to the current, which before it did not do ; it was haided in, and the boat again be came stationary ; veering once more, she again drifted to the current— signs tolerably conclusive that bottom was struck. The experiment occupied four hours. On board we sounded with 400 fathoms of line, trying the temperature at different depths ; that of the air was found to be 80°, of the water on the surface 78°, and at 400 fathoms depth 50-5o. The current was setting nearly two miles an hornto the south-west-by-west; this result agreed tolerably with the difference between the dead reckoning and the observations, and also corroborates all former ex perience. On the 7th of August the trade-wind was hanging [August, 8 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. so much to the southward, and the current setting so strongly to the south-west, that we felt anxious about weathering Cape St. Augustine.

At 8 a.m. Fernando de Noronha was in sight. This group consists of two islands and several rocks, exposed to the whole swell of the Atlantic Ocean, and the surf breaks constantly and heavily upon its shores. The islands are strange speci mens of volcanic formation ; needle-like rocks, sugar-loaf pinnacles, and over-hanging cliffs, rival even the Pieter Botte in fantastic forms. The current swept us down on the islands • at noon we passed five miles to windward of them, the centre pyramid or minaret bearing north 6° west, the south-west point north 36° west. The centre peak is an extraordinary rock, nearly 800 feet high, and so regular and exact in its form that at a distance it is difficult to believe it is not a work of art. A fort, strong in appearance, is the principal object in view, and is occupied by the Brazilian Government chiefly as a convict establishment.

There is something horrible in looking at such a spot. To think of the countless sighs and curses of those whose crimes or misfortunes have caused them to be thus penned up by a half-civilized people ! What feelings of despair and wretchedness must be theirs, as, day after day, they view the cliffs and peaks which form but a break in the monotony of a voyage — a sub ject for conversation, to be forgotten in other scenes of an ever-changing life! For the safer custody of the prisoners, no boats are allowed. Fish is abundant • fine cattle are pastured ; fresh beef, milk, vegetables, and fruit can be obtained in cases of necessity. The islands were at one time a rendezvous for whale-ships ; now, visits 1845.] 9 THE JANGADAS. are discouraged, nor, considering the change in the state of Brazil during the last thirty years, would any vessel wish to touch at an exposed and dangerous anchorage when everything can be got from the ports on the mainland.

On the 9th of August, in 7° 30' south and 34° 15' west, the coast of Brazil was sighted. After sunset, being in twenty-two fathoms, we stood off the shore, and fell in with the harbingers of land in those parts, the Jangadas. A ship is a wonderful thing, but it seems even more wonderful to meet these extraordinary rafts in the open sea, Mr. Koster, who published his inter esting travels in North Brazil, 1809-1812, thus de scribes them : " The Jangadas are rafts of six logs, of a peculiar species of light timber, lashed or pinned together, a large lateen sail, a paddle used as a rudder, a sliding keel let down between the two centre logs, a seat for the steersman, and a long forked pole upon which is hung the vessel containing water, provisions, etc. These rude floats have a most singular appearance, no hull being apparent even when near them.

They are usually managed by two men, and go closer to the wind than any description of vessel." The nights were now beautiful ; the Centaurus, the Southern Cross, the Ship Argo, and the fiery Antares, were so many novel spectacles, while Venus setting in the west, Mars and Jupiter rising in the east, and Cas siopeia and the Great Bear standing in the north, carried back the mind to home and friends. Brilliant meteors with rocket-like trains added to the beauty of the firma ment. Breezes, generally steady, and varied by a squall [August, 10 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. or a calm of a few hours, earned us six or seven knots an hour, until within 200 miles of Cape Frio, when, to our surprise, land was reported; the exact resemblance of some vapours deceived almost every one, and even at first caused fears as to the chronometers, but a sounding of forty-eight fathoms having been obtained and an altitude of Jupiter giving 23° 11' south, we hauled up three points, from west-south-west to west-by-north, and at daylight made Cape Frio.

This observation was a very useful one ; since noon on the Sunday a current had set more than twenty miles to the southward, and had the west-south west course been continued we should have been to the southward of Ilha Raza with wind and cm-rent against us. In coming from the southward, bound to Rio Janeiro, ships have often been more than a week getting up the last hundred miles of the voyage, from an error in making the land too far to the southward and westward. Approaching the coast of America, the trade-wind at this season usually fails, or rather changes its direction on nearing the land. Between March and September the change is the least apparent, east-by-north and east south-east being the prevalent direction ; but between the months of September and March it is frequently alto gether reversed — north-by-east and north-east-by-east are then the prevalent winds.

This circumstance was always taken advantage of by the commanders of the Falmouth packets, who in the former months touched at Bahia and Pernambuco in the return voyage ; while in the latter, between September and March, they called at those ports in the outward voyage. But steam, mighty steam, will cause these local circumstances, im- 1845.] 11 RIO JANEIRO. portant as they have hitherto proved, to be overlooked and forgotten. Although it was the season for easterly and east south-east winds, we had a touch from the north-north east, bringing with it thick hazy weather, and not until the 1 8th of August did we make Ilha Raza lighthouse. The province of Rio Janeiro between Cape Frio and Ilha Grande is extremely mountainous ; a succession of peaks occur, which incline to the westward with one exception, the Pa5 d'Azucar, or Sugar-loaf.

This rock guides the navigator, for the harbour of Rio is only a blind one ; and Don Juan de Solis, the discoverer, found that the aborigines called it " Nitherohy," that is, the hidden water, a very appropriate name, the entrance being con cealed mi til in front, of the inlet. The breeze failed us just on entering the port ; at eight p.m. it fell calm, and the ebb tide making strong, we were obliged to anchor. Rio Janeiro is famed as one of the marvels of beautiful scenery, and there is only one place to be compared with it, perhaps to excel it, that is in the Bosphorus, where for twenty miles the channel of the Ottomans unfolds in succession hill, valley, and plain, towers, palaces, and mosques. There is something of this kind at Rio, but the coup d'œil seems to burst more upon the spectator in meridian splendour, whereas at Constantinople fresh beauties, new charms, hidden splendours, open on one as he advances.

The mind, carried away by the ever-changing, ever-beautiful scene, almost asks, can this be real ? — as if one was in a pleasant dream, and would fear to awake. The first visit to Rio is not easily forgotten : the wooded heights, the [August, 12 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. HERALD. green valleys, the rugged peaks, and distant mountains, are looked upon with all the interest that the first sight of the New World causes. But to describe the harbour itself words utterly fail. Surprise, admiration, delight, all that earth can imagine, seems to open out, and one looks back to that pleasure as the purest ever enjoyed. On the 19th of August, at one p.m., when the flood tide made, we got under way. The breeze, however, was so light, in fact the ship was drifting up with the tide only, that we were again obliged to let go the anchor, to avoid fouling some vessels in the fair way ; and it was not until three p.m. that we took up oiuposition off the city, where H.M. ships Grecian, Crescent, Seagull, Pen guin, and Spy, the U.S. frigates Raritan and Bainbridge, and the Brazilian frigate Isabella, were met with.

Rio Janeiro is, properly speaking, the name of the bay which Solis discovered and mistook for the mouth of a river ; it is a fine inlet, upwards of forty miles in cir cumference, having no stream of any importance falling into it. A French adventurer, Villegagnon, at the head of an expedition which professed to afford liberty of conscience to the Huguenots, took possession of an island in the bay ; but after committing various atrocities in endeavouring to found a colony, in which the Protestants suffered more persecution than they had left behind, he was driven out on the 20th of January, 1540, never having occupied more than the small island still called after him. Struck with the advantageous position, Mem de Sa founded the new city, destined to be the capital of Brazil, and named it after the martyr San Sebastian, and also in honour of Sebastian, the then King of Por- 1845.] 13 RIO JANEIRO. tugal.