d were
extremely alarmed with apprehensions for its consequences. It is
said that Charles II. was so far prepossessed with the belief of the
advantages that might redound to the public from this expedition, and
was so eager to be informed of the event, on receiving intelligence of
Sir John Narborough passing through the Downs on his return, that he
had not patience to wait till his arrival at court, but went himself
in his barge to meet him at Gravesend.

The two most famous charts hitherto published, [i.e. in 1745,] of
the southern parts of South America, are those of Dr Halley, in his
General Chart of the Magnetic Variation, and of Frezier, in his Voyage
to the South Seas. Besides these, there is a chart of the Straits of
Magellan and some parts of the adjacent coast, by Sir John Narborough,
which is doubtless infinitely more exact in that part than Frezier's,
and even in some parts superior to Halley's, particularly in regard to
the longitudes of different places in these straits. We were in some
measure capable of correcting, by our own observations, the coast from
Cape Blanco to Terra del Fuego, and thence to the Straits of Le
Maire, as we ranged along that coast, generally in sight of land. The
position of the land to the northward of the Straits of Magellan, on
the western side of Patagonia, is doubtless laid down very imperfectly
in our charts; and yet I believe it to be much nearer the truth than
any hitherto published; as it was drawn from the information of some
of the crew of the Wager, which was shipwrecked on that coast; and
as it pretty nearly agrees with what I have seen in some Spanish
manuscripts. The channel, called Whale Sound, dividing Terra del
Fuego, towards the western extremity of the Straits of Magellan, was
represented by Frezier; but Sir Francis Drake, who first discovered
Cape Horn, and the south-west parts of Terra del Fuego, observed that
the whole coast was indented by a great number of inlets, all of which
he conceived to communicate with the Straits of Magellan: And I do
not doubt, when this country shall be thoroughly examined, that this
conjecture will be verified, and that Terra del Fuego will be found to
consist of several islands.

I must not omit warning all future navigators against relying on the
longitude of the Straits of Le Maire, or of any part of that coast,
as laid down by Frezier; the whole being from eight to ten degrees
too far to the eastward, if any faith can be giv