It had been supposed,
hitherto, that Tierra del Fuego was solid land to the South Pole, and
that the Straits were the only communication between the Atlantic and
the Pacific. They now learnt the true shape and character of the Western
Continent. In the latitude of Cape Horn a westerly gale blows for ever
round the globe; the waves the highest anywhere known. The _Marigold_
went down in the tremendous encounter. Captain Winter, in the
_Elizabeth_, made his way back into Magellan's Straits. There he lay for
three weeks, lighting fires nightly to show Drake where he was, but no
Drake appeared. They had agreed, if separated, to meet on the coast in
the latitude of Valparaiso; but Winter was chicken-hearted, or else
traitorous like Doughty, and sore, we are told, 'against the mariners'
will,' when the three weeks were out, he sailed away for England, where
he reported that all the ships were lost but the _Pelican_, and that
the _Pelican_ was probably lost too.
Drake had believed better of Winter, and had not expected to be so
deserted. He had himself taken refuge among the islands which form the
Cape, waiting for the spring and milder weather. He used the time in
making surveys, and observing the habits of the native Patagonians, whom
he found a tough race, going naked amidst ice and snow.
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