The Cannibal Islands | Page 5

Mr Banks and Dr Solander had in view in
going with Captain Cook on this voyage was to collect specimens of
plants and insects in the new countries they were about to visit. The
country near Cape Horn was at that time almost unknown: indeed, it is
not much known even at the present day. The two naturalists of the

expedition were therefore anxious to land and explore the shore.
Accordingly, early one fine morning a party went ashore to ascend one
of the mountains. It consisted of Mr Banks and Dr Solander with their
servants, two of whom were negroes; Mr Buchan, the draughtsman; Mr
Monkhouse, the surgeon of the ship; and Mr Green, the astronomer.
These set off to push as far as they could into the country, intending to
return before night. They were accompanied by two seamen, who
carried their baggage.
The hills, when viewed from a distance, seemed to be partly wooded;
above the wood there was a plain, and beyond that bare rocks. Mr
Banks hoped to get through the woods, and made no doubt that beyond
it he would find new sorts of plants which no botanists had ever yet
heard of. They entered the wood full of hope, and with much of the
excitement that men cannot but feel when exploring a country that has
never been trodden by the foot of a civilised man since the world
began.
It took them, however, much longer to get through the pathless wood
than they had expected. It was afternoon before they reached what they
had taken for a plain, but which, to their great disappointment, they
found to be a swamp covered with low bushes, which were so stubborn
that they could not break through them, and were therefore compelled
to step over them, while at every step they sank up to the ankles in
mud--a mode of progress so fatiguing that they were all very soon
exhausted. To make matters worse, the weather became gloomy and
cold, with sudden blasts of piercing wind accompanied by snow.
They pushed on vigorously notwithstanding, and had well-nigh crossed
the swamp when Mr Buchan was suddenly seized with a fit. This
compelled a halt. As he could not go further, a fire was kindled, and
those who were most fatigued were left behind to take care of him,
while the rest continued to advance. At last they reached the summit of
the mountain, and were rewarded for their toil by the botanical
specimens discovered there. It was late in the day by that time, and as it
was impossible to get back to the ship that night, they were obliged to
make up their minds to bivouac on the mountain, a necessity which

caused them no little uneasiness, for it had now become bitterly cold.
Sharp blasts of wind became so frequent, however, that they could not
remain on the exposed mountain-side, and were obliged to make for the
shelter of the woods in the nearest valley.
Mr Buchan having recovered, and the whole party having reassembled,
they set out to recross the swamp, intending, when they should get into
the woods, to build a hut of leaves and branches, kindle a fire, and pass
the night there as well as they could. But an overpowering torpor had
now begun to seize hold upon some of the party, and it was with the
greatest difficulty the others could prevent the drowsy ones from lying
down to sleep in the snow. This almost irresistible tendency to sleep is
common in cold countries. It is one of the effects of extreme cold upon
exhausted men, and is a very dangerous condition, because those who
fall into it cannot resist giving way to it, even though they know that if
they do so they will certainly die.
Dr Solander, who had formerly travelled on the snow-topped
mountains of Norway, was aware of the danger of giving way to this
feeling, and strove to prevent his companions from falling into the fatal
rest. "Whoever sits down," said he, "will sleep, and whoever sleeps will
awake no more."
Strange to say, Dr Solander was the first to disregard his own warning.
While they were still pushing across the naked side of the mountain,
the cold became suddenly so intense that it increased the effect they
dreaded so much. The doctor found the desire to rest so irresistible that
he insisted on being suffered to lie down. Mr Banks tried to prevent
him, but in vain. Down he lay upon the ground, covered though it was
with snow, and all that his friends could do was to keep shaking him,
and so prevent him from falling into the fatal sleep. At the same time
one of the negro servants became affected in a similar