The channel was unobstructed;
and not an island, islet, or rock, was visible. No impediment to our
proceeding offered, and we were still more encouraged to push on. The
course we were steering was about south-south-west, and the captain
predicted we should come out into the ocean to the _westward_ of
the Straits of Le Maire, and somewhere near the Cape itself. We should
unquestionably make a great discovery! The wind continued to back
round, and soon got to be abaft the beam. We now shook our reefs out,
one after another, and we had whole topsails on the vessel by nine
o'clock. This was carrying hard, it must be owned; but the skipper was
determined to make hay while the sun shone. There were a few hours,
when I think the ship went fifteen knots by the land, being so much
favoured by the current. Little did we know the difficulties towards
which we were rushing!
Quite early in the day, land appeared ahead, and Marble began to
predict that our rope was nearly run out. We were coming to the bottom
of a deep bay. Captain Williams thought differently; and when he
discovered a narrow passage between two promontories, he triumphantly
predicted our near approach to the Cape. He had seen some such shape
to the mountains inland, in doubling the Horn, and the hill-tops
looked like old acquaintances.
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