They had now been wandering up and down the
coast for fifteen months, without knowing which way to go, or where
they were. What a singular piece of good fortune it was that this
harbour was now discovered! Had it not been for this one chance,
they might have wandered till they had grown old men, and at last
have perished on this wild coast. Their sufferings had been very
great, and one of their party had lost his life by falling from the
cliffs. They were sometimes obliged to separate in search of food,
and this explained the bed of the solitary man. Considering what
they had undergone, I think they had kept a very good reckoning of
time, for they had lost only four days.
DECEMBER 30, 1834.
We anchored in a snug little cove at the foot of some high hills,
near the northern extremity of Tres Montes. After breakfast the
next morning a party ascended one of these mountains, which was
2400 feet high. The scenery was remarkable. The chief part of the
range was composed of grand, solid, abrupt masses of granite, which
appeared as if they had been coeval with the beginning of the
world. The granite was capped with mica-slate, and this in the
lapse of ages had been worn into strange finger-shaped points.
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