The next day, the weather was very good in the morning, and Chen Shouxu decided to climb to the top of a nearby mountain, and he wanted to observe the entire topography of the Le Maire Strait. The captain of the ship, Allemand and Coutinho, together with him, took eight sailors and four instructors ashore from one of the fleet's water points and walked into the woods that Chen Shouxu believed to be beech.

There was no road at all, and the soldiers had to use their scimitars to split through the bushes and struggled forward. Towards 3 o'clock, the team reached the top of the mountain. Chen Shouxu took the entire Le Maire Strait into view, and there was no previous logbook that recorded the entire view of the strait.

The soldiers set up their measuring instruments, and the Le Maire Strait was about 20 nautical miles long and 15 nautical miles wide from Cape Santiago. Staten Island on the other side is also not big.

Vasak. Concelos took out his pen and paper and began to draw a map by hand.

The sky is getting overcast, the weather is changing, and sleet is starting to fall.

Allemand stretched out his hand to feel the raindrops, "Commander, it's time for us to go." ”

Concelos said, "Captains, please wait until I'm done with the map." ”

Chen Shouxu was a little hesitant.

Concelos was resolute, "Captains, you can go first, I must finish the map." No one has ever left a map of the coastline of the Le Maire Strait and Tierra del Fuego in history, which would be a great discovery in the history of geography. ”

Leaving this powerless teacher alone on this desert island is simply death, Chen Shouxu said, "Okay, Mr. Concelos, please hurry. ”

The rain and snow were getting heavier, and Concelos was intently holding the paintbrush. Chen Shouxu wanted to leave several times, but looking at Concelos's focused appearance, it was impossible to leave.

The wind and snow hit the bay violently, and by the time the sketch was completed, Chen Shouxu had already dismissed the idea of returning to the ship that day.

Trekking through the bushes in the rain and snow is too physically demanding.

The wind was too strong, and Allem walked up to Chen Shouxu's side, "Captain, we must find a sheltered place to raise a fire as soon as possible." ”

"Let's build a shack in the valley." Chen Shouxu replied loudly.

It was cold and visibility became very low in the evening. Chen Shouxu insisted on walking at the back of the line, and he wanted to bring everyone back completely.

Concelos and the other teacher couldn't walk. "I can't walk a single step, let me rest for a while."

Chen Shouxu stepped forward and grabbed his arm, "If you don't leave, you will freeze to death here." ”

Concelos was still lying on the snow, "Then let me die here." ”

"Your map hasn't been published yet, how can you say dead." Chen Shouxu grabbed his arm and carried it on his shoulder.

Coutinho also carried another teacher.

The sailors came over and wanted to replace the captain.

Chen Shouxu stopped them, "You take care of the things on your body, those instruments are very important for navigation and exploration. ”

Coutinho also said, "Don't lose your food. ”

"Allemand, you take four people to go first, find a suitable place to light the fire, and we will walk slowly behind."

Chen Shouxu and Coutinho walked behind with the remaining four sailors and two teachers who couldn't walk.

Snowflakes are falling on their heads, and the surrounding area is extremely cold, and the heat is constantly flowing.

The team trudged slowly towards the valley. Fortunately, they got the good news halfway through, and Allemand lit a fire half a mile ahead. Two soldiers who unloaded their equipment replaced Chen Shouxu and Coutinho.

It took a lot of effort for the group to find the makeshift camp in Alemand. The woods and valleys blocked most of the wind, and the snowflakes were still drifting, and it was pitch black all around. The sailors spread the canvas they were carrying on the ground, and the crowd fell on it tiredly.

The three captains looked at each other in embarrassment, and they couldn't help but laugh.

The sailors took out the frozen seal meat and roasted it over the fire.

Allemand looked at the snowflakes a little distracted, "It's been eight years, I haven't seen such a big snow in eight years." ”

"Why eight years?" asked Coutinho. ”

"I spent two years in England and the Netherlands, then in the Caribbean, and I haven't seen snow since."

Of all the captains, Chen Shouxu was the least familiar with the French captain, and he asked, "Are you leaving France with Marmont?" ”

Allem shook his head, "At the time of the siege of La Rochelle, I was just a student. Marmont was already a war hero in the city. Actually, I knew him in the West Indies. ”

"Are you homesick?" Coutinho asked.

"Home? If you're talking about my relatives and my hometown in France, then I don't have a home for a long time. ”

As soon as Coutinho asked the question, he actually regretted it a little, and he would apologize, "I'm sorry, I didn't know what you went through. ”

"My battleship is now my home."

Coutinho turned around and fumbled in his bag for a while, "Look, I've got something nice with me." ”

"Brandy?" Allemand rejoiced.

Coutinho handed the bottle over, and Allemand took out his dagger and expertly "cut" it.

Chen Shouxu waved his hand to let the sailors gather around, "Brothers, let's share this bottle of brandy." ”

There are no cups, each person pours a sip and hands it to the next person.

At this time, there were no commanders, captains, sailors, Catholics and Protestants, only a group of life-and-death partners.

The night passed, and in the early morning the sailors sent by the fleet found their commander.

The weather is still very bad, with rain and snow mixed with hail, and white waves in the open sea. The fleet could only anchor in the bay, and the sailors took turns going ashore to fetch water, cut wood, and continue to hunt seals.

After Chen Shouxu returned to the fleet, he called a meeting of officers, and he put the sketches made by Concelos on the table.

"Gentlemen, there are great problems with the description of the terrain near the Le Maire by the expedition of Le Maire and by the Nassau fleet with Hemet. We did our best yesterday to map the Le Maire Strait. The entire strait is actually less than 20 nautical miles long, and as long as there is half a day of good weather, we can get out of here. ”

Allem glanced at Chen Shouxu, "The bay where we are anchored now can be sheltered from the southwest and south winds, and it is safe here." I saw a huge wave from the south wind yesterday, and the commander and I felt that it was best not to risk sailing out of the bay against the wind. ”

"What if the good weather doesn't come all the time?" Shall we simply withdraw westward from the Channel, continue south along Staten Island, and then turn the rudder further south to the right? ”

Chen Shouxu nodded, "Let's wait for three days, and if the weather doesn't improve, we will leave the strait west and continue south." ”

Coutinho thought for a moment, "Captains, I think if we could wait a few more days?" ”

The officers all looked at him, and it was not known what he would suggest this time, probably because he was a prisoner and had rarely spoken at officers' meetings. ”

Coutinho smiled and said, "Last night I thought a long time about the problems we faced on our first day in the Channel. What stood in our way were the two great tides of the morning and the afternoon. In 4 to 5 days there will be a full moon and a synodic tide. The two tides we experienced on our first day were 9am and 5pm. Captains, if we time well and sail into the strait just before the tide passes, then we will have eight hours to pass through the strait. Even if there is a headwind, we have a lot of hope of success. ”

Chen Shouxu's eyes lit up, yes, he had also ignored the problem of the tide before. He immediately pointed to the chart, "If we encounter a south wind, we will not go to sea." If it is a westerly or northwesterly wind, you must remember to keep enough distance to Staten Island to prevent strong winds from blowing onto Staten Island. ”

"It's too far to go west around Staten Island," Chen said to Marmont, "and although Hemmit's logbook suggests it, since we're already in the Strait of Lemaire, we'll try our best." ”

Marmont smiled, "You are the commander of the fleet, of course it is up to you to decide." ”

After the meeting, the fleet remained in the bay. Weather permitting, the fleet sends sailors ashore to collect wild celery and hunt seals.

The tide arrived a day later than expected. The compass error is 24 degrees 9 minutes.

Lifting all the dinghies, the fleet turned around in the bay and lined up at the exit of the strait.

As Chen Shouxu wishes, the wind will be northwest, at least it will not be a headwind.

The ebbing tide unleashed a huge wall of waves, making it look like a cliff had suddenly collapsed.

"Let's go!"

The flagship leads, and the fleet sails out of the bay in turn.

Moderate winds, with all bottom sails and mid truss sails flared, the battleship rolled sideways to starboard, acceptable.

The fleet sailed southeast, and crosswinds deflected the course towards Staten Island.

In the afternoon, Chen Shouxu estimated that the space to the east had been opened. The wind direction changed from northwest to due south, and the fleet turned to the top wind once. Sail west-southwest instead. Before the high tide in the afternoon, it sailed out of the Le Maire without a hitch.

According to Hemet's nautical records, it was less than 100 nautical miles from Cape Horn.

Again, the headwind turned to east-southeast heading. The fleet will try its best to sail south, far off the shores of Tierra del Fuego. According to Hemmit's records, the further south you go, the smoother the wind, and even the possibility of easterly winds, but you have to pay close attention to the ice floes at sea.

Compass error 25 degrees 4 minutes.

Staten Island is in the northeast. The wind direction is changeable, starting with a rare southeast wind. The strong wind was accompanied by a sudden wind, and when the wind direction changed to the north wind, it finally became a Japanese wind. The weather also cleared, and the battleship spread all its sails except for the winged sails. Taking advantage of this rare good weather, he sailed 40 nautical miles to the northwest.

The fleet approached an archipelago with inconsistent compass directions.

All the officers went up to the stern, and Chen Shouxu said, "The Nassau fleet has mentioned this phenomenon, and the compass may be an influence of the proximity to the mainland. ”

Harris pointed to the three islands in front of him, a little excited, "Commander, there should be Cape Horn ahead." ”

The southern tip of the island is 9 nautical miles away from the fleet in a west-north-northwest position, and the water depth is 55 fathoms. The cape is relatively high and consists of a set of sharp and steep reefs, with a few outcrops in the sea not far away.

Chen Shouxu said, don't be so sure, let's go ahead and see.

In order to prevent running aground, the battleship kept a distance from the archipelago and continued to sail in a southwesterly direction.

After rounding the island, land appeared in front of it, and it looked like an island with a circular hill.

Lookouts reported that there was no land left in the south within visual distance.

Chen Shouxu couldn't suppress his laughter, "Gentlemen, He'en Jiao." ”

Harris repeatedly looked at the charts, "Commander, if that is Cape Horn, the record of the Nassau fleet is all wrong. ”

Chen Shouxu nodded, "At least, he's right about one thing." Cape Horn is located on an island, the Hermet Islands, named after him. ”

The battleship began to measure. The azimuth is southwest and west, 55 degrees 59 minutes south latitude, and the longitude given by Chen Shouxu is 67 degrees 19 minutes west longitude.

The wind turned west-southwest to northwest, and the fleet continued to sail southwest for a day over a distance of 70 nautical miles. At noon, Cape Horn was due north of the fleet. The officers on board the Changshui included all the measurements of these days in the logbook, and as usual, the longitude was given by the commander.

Sailing to the southernmost position near 57 degrees south latitude, the flagship turned rudder and sailed northwest. After a few days, the weather started to improve, and although it was still cold, the breeze began to increase.

Following the experience recorded by explorers throughout history, the fleet sailed as far northwest as possible.

The Royal Albatross appeared around the battleship, and this beautiful giant bird was snow-white, with only a little black at the tips of its wings.

The weather is getting better, the wind and waves are decreasing, and the hours of sunny days are getting more and more.

Finally, one day, when the clouds cleared, Chen Shouxu said to the officers, "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to the Pacific Ocean. ”