resh water and wood. The 17th they sailed between two rocky shores, so
close and so high that they hardly thought to have got through. The
mountains on both sides were covered with snow. On the 18th, they cast
anchor in a bay on the north side of the straits, in lat. 54 deg. S. called
_Great bay_, having good anchorage on fine sand. In this bay there are
three small islands, the least of which is farthest east.

In these parts, there grow great quantities of trees, resembling bay
trees, but somewhat higher, the bark of which is very bitter, and has a
hot taste like pepper.[86] They here found abundance of muscles, some of
which were a span long, and when boiled, the fish of three of them
weighed a pound. The wind being contrary, they lay here at anchor till
the 23d of August,[87] without taking the sails from the yards, to be
ready to sail on a change of wind. In the mean while they suffered much
from cold, in so much that they lost above an hundred men, among whom
was Captain Buckholt, who was succeeded by Baltazar de Cordes. Storms
were so frequent and violent during this time, that the ships could not
ride quietly at anchor, and the seamen were forced to be continually at
work to keep them right. They were also forced to go often on shore, in
rain, snow, and hail, to get in fresh water, wood, muscles, and such
other food as they could find, by which they were greatly fatigued. The
scarcity of victuals was so great, and the climate so severe, that they
were almost starved with hunger and cold, and their appetites so
insatiable, that they devoured roots or any thing else they could find,
raw and uncooked. Most of the seamen had no watch-coats or other warm
cloathing, to enable them to support the fatigue of watching and their
daily labour, having made no provision of such things, as they believed
themselves bound to warm climes. To remedy this evil, the general
ordered cloth to be distributed among them.

[Footnote 86: In Harris these are erroneously called _Pimento_, but they
must have been the _Wintera aromatica_. The Pimento, or _Myrtus
Pimenta_, is a native of the warm regions of America and the West India
islands, producing Pimento, All-spice, or Jamaica pepper.--E.]

[Footnote 87: This date, here anticipated, refers to the day when they
afterwards set sail.--E.]

It was found that many of the seamen, when at their meals, were in use
to sell their victuals to others at high prices, and afterwards
satisfied thei