[Footnote 3:  This is poor reasoning to support a preconceived theory of a southern continent, and might easily have been answered by themselves, as the prodigious current which set them through the Straits of Le Maire with such rapidity, could not have originated from any such cause.  Currents are well known to be occasioned by the tides, the diurnal revolution of the earth, and by prevailing winds, influenced and directed by the bendings of coasts, the interposition of islands, and the position of straits.  No such currents could possibly come from rivers in an austral land, locked up in ever-during frost, should any such land exist.—­E.]

[Footnote 4:  It might be asked, whence are these fishers to come?  Not surely from among the miserable inhabitants of Terra del Fuego.  A miserable hypothesis is thus often obstinately defended by wretched arguments.—­E.]

Being driven 500 leagues from the continent by the contrary winds, the commodore now believed that he was beyond Cape Horn to the westwards, and steered therefore N.E. by N. in order to fall in with the coast of Chili.  On the 10th March, being in lat. 37 deg. 30’ S. they discovered the coast of Chili to their great joy, and anchored soon after on the coast of the island of Mocha, which is three leagues from the continent.[5] They were in hopes of finding on this island at least a part of the refreshments of which they were in want, especially fresh meat and vegetables, but were disappointed, by finding the island entirely abandoned, all its inhabitants having removed to the main land.  They saw, however, in the island a multitude of horses and birds, and found some dogs in two cabins near the shore.  They also discovered the wreck of a Spanish ship, from which they supposed the dogs had got on shore.  The horses were supposed to have been left here to graze, and that the owners came at certain times from the main to take them, as wanted.  They here killed abundance of geese and ducks; and finding the coast extremely rocky, and having no safe place of anchorage, they resolved to put to sea.  In a council of the officers, it was determined to continue for some time longer on the coast of Chili, in hopes of meeting with some port in which they could safely anchor, in order to get some refreshments; but perceiving the Spaniards to be every where on their guard, they steered W.N.W. for the island of Juan Fernandez, which they reckoned to be at the distance of ninety leagues in that direction.  Although the coast of Chili appears to be enormously high when seen from a distance, they discovered, by sailing along shore, that it was not higher than the coast of England, and that they had been deceived by the enormous height of the inland mountains, the tops of which are hid in the clouds, and cloathed in perpetual snow.

[Footnote 5:  Mocha is in lat. 36 deg. 20’ S. and about 20 miles from the coast of Chili.—­E.]