Quiberon Bay

“ QUIBERON, CAMPAIGN AND BATTLE OF. Quiberon Bay, on the S. coast of Brittany, France, was the scene of the great naval battle which defeated the plan laid by the ministers of King Louis XV. of France, for the invasion of England in 1759, during the Seven Years' War (q.v.) . An army had been collected at Yannes, in the south-east of Brittany, and transports had been brought together in the landlocked waters of the Morbihan which are connected with Quiberon Bay. ”

“ On the 25th of June we entered the capacious bay of Quiberon, which affords one of the most secure anchorages on the French coast. On one side is the Peninsula of Quiberon, which extends out some way from the mainland, and seaward are two small, well-cultivated islands, so that it is completely protected from westerly and south-westerly gales. ”

“ Sunday afternoon in Belle Isle is a fashionable time. Between three and four people go down to the quay, clattering over the cobble stones in their best black sabots, to watch the steamers come in from Quiberon. You see girls in fresh white caps and neat black dresses, spruce soldiers, ladies à la mode in extravagant headgear and loud plaid or check dresses. On the quay they buy hot chestnuts. From our hotel we could watch the people as they passed, and the shopkeepers sitting and gossiping outside their doors. ”

“ Owing to so many calamities, its inhabitants scarcely exceed 13,000, who are attracted to this place on the frontiers of the warlike Araucanians, by the great abundance of gold that is procured in its neighbourhood. The climate is always temperate, the soil is fertile, and the sea abounds in fish of all kinds. The Bay of Conception is spacious and safe, extending above ten miles from north to south, and nearly as much from east to west. Its mouth is protected by a beautiful and fertile island, called Quiriquina, forming two mouths or entrances to the bay ”

“ They heard the whistles and hoarse calls of the bos’n as the men tumbled down from aloft, the sheets flew home, and yards went up to their blocks with a clatter and a rush that showed how willing were the hands at the tackles. The tops’ls caught a fine breeze from the southward and, bracing up, the “Ranger” flew down the harbor and around the point of Quiberon just as the sun was setting behind the purple cloud-streaks along the line of limitless ocean. Up the coast she moved, her bowsprit pointing fearlessly to the north, where lay the Scilly Isles. ”

“ Beautiful—oh, beautiful, of course, whether one looks across from Costebelle to the lighthouse on Porquerolles and the warships in Hyères Bay; or climbs by the Calvary to the lighthouse of la Garoupe, and sees on the one side Antibes, on the other the Isles de Lérins; or scans the entrance of Toulon Harbour; or counts the tiers of shipping alongside the quays at Genoa! But somehow the Mediterranean has neither flavour nor sparkle, nor even any proper smell. The sea by Biarritz is champagne to it. But hear how Hugo draws the contrast in time of storm ”

“ Anson sent the sick on shore and installed them in a sheltered hospital in the open air, then putting himself at the head of the most enterprising sailors, he scoured the entire island, and thoroughly examined its roads and shores. The best anchorage, according to his report, was in Cumberland Bay. The south-eastern portion of Juan Fernandez, a little island scarcely five leagues by two in extent, is dry, rocky, treeless; the ground lies low, and is level in comparison with the northern portion. ”

“ It was a gay scene by the quay, where native coasting ships were unloading their queer cargoes. Dark-faced porters in rags carried on their shoulders enormous burdens; men in loose knickerbockers, embroidered shirts, and funny little turbans lounged about, and stared at us as if they were every-day people and we extraordinary. And the setting for the lively picture was the deeply-indented bay, surrounded with quaintly pretty houses among vineyards and olive groves, which climbed terrace after terrace to a mountainous horse-shoe, hemming in the port. ”

“ For half a mile beyond the grey Church and Vicarage of Bleakirk it extends, forming the northern arm of the small fishing-bay, and protecting it from the full set of the tides. Towards its end it breaks away sharply, and terminates in a dorsal ridge of slate-coloured rock that runs out for some two hundred feet between the sands we call the Twin Brothers. Of these, that to the south, and inside the bay, is motionless, and bears the name of the 'Dead-Boy;' but the 'Quick-Boy,' to the north, shifts continually. It is a quicksand, in short; and will swallow a man in three minutes. ”

“ Not a word had been said between them on the matter that lay closest to their minds, but while they waited Billy fetched a look at the boat and another at Abe. "The best man wins," he said to himself, and edged away towards the ladder.
The breeze, as I said, was a fresh one, with a sea in the bay that kept the Suffolk rolling like a porpoise. A heavier lurch than ordinary sent her main channels grinding down on the mackerel boat's gunwale, smashing her upper strakes and springing her mizzen mast as she recovered herself. ”

“ The breeze, contending with the tide, flings the breakers in great style upon the high broken cliffs of Sumburgh-head. They are all one white foam, ascending to a great height. We wished to double this point, and lie by in a bay between that and the northern or north-western cape, called Fitful-head, and which seems higher than Sumburgh itself—and tacked repeatedly with this view; but a confounded islet, called The Horse, always baffled us, and, after three heats, fairly distanced us. So we run into a roadstead, called Quendal Bay, on the south-eastern side, and there anchor for the night. ”

“ Indeed there was a business which we foresaw would occasions some delay, but we flattered ourselves that it would be despatched in four or five days, and therefore could not interrupt our project. This was the recruiting of our water. It was for some time a matter of deliberation where we should take in this necessary article, but by consulting the accounts of former navigators, and examining our prisoners, we at last resolved for the island of Quibo, situated at the mouth of the Bay of Panama. ”

“ None of them afford a very secure anchorage, the bottom being deep and rocky; and vessels close to the shore are exposed to sudden and violent flaws from the mountains, and the danger of being driven on the rocks by gales from the ocean. In Cumberland Bay, however, there are places where vessels can ride in safety, by choosing a position suitable to the prevailing winds of the season. ”

“ Here we turn westward into the great bay itself, going with a tide that rushes like a mighty river toward a cataract, whirling, boiling, breaking in half moons of crispy foam. Behind us is the blue reach of Chignecto Bay, the northern of the two long and winding horns of the main body of water, up which it would be play for a fortnight to hunt romantic scenery, and witness the “bore,” that most brilliant of all tidal displays.
Here is a broad sea, moving with strange velocity for a sea. The prospect to the south is singularly fine. ”

“ The island itself is of an irregular figure. Its greatest extent is between four and five leagues, and its greatest breadth somewhat short of two leagues. The only {112} safe anchoring at this island is on the north side, where are the three bays mentioned above, but the middlemost, known by the name of Cumberland Bay, is the widest and deepest, and in all respects much the best; for the other two, denominated the East and West bays, are scarcely more than good landing-places, where boats may conveniently put their casks on shore. ”

“ On the thirtieth, having completed his supply of water, Quimper got under way for the island of Maui, but being impeded by heavy north winds, concluded to seek the bay of Kealakekua to the south. Instead he came to anchor on the first day of April in the bay of Kailua, 27 and it was there that Colnett found him. IV Early on the morning of April 2 the natives informed Quimper that there was a ship at sail along the coast farther south. ”

“ As the bay last described, or Cumberland Bay, is by far the most commodious road in the island, so it is adviseable for all ships to anchor on the western side of this bay, within little more than two cables' lengths of the beach. Here they may ride in forty fathom of water, and be, in a great measure, sheltered from a large heavy sea which comes rolling in whenever an eastern or a western wind blows. ”

“ The zeal of an explorer however is not to be so easily quenched; and accordingly, accompanied by a gentleman of the town, not unknown to zoological science, William Thompson, Esq., I crossed the Bay, in one of the Steamers that ply daily between Weymouth and Portland.
The island has but one commodity, stone; and that is abundant enough. A massive quay is built of huge square blocks, whose weight and form are sufficient to ensure their stability; at least I suppose so, for no trace of cement is visible at the joints. ”

“ The range of mountains flanking Cumberland Bay on each side generally present the same trap terraces as in Christmas Harbour. Six miles and a half up the bay are two inlets nearly opposite to each other; the one on the south side is a mile and half deep, a mile broad at its widest part, and one-third of a mile at the entrance. The trap rocks surrounding this bay differ from the others in containing drusy cavities of beautiful quartz crystals, many fine fragments of which were scattered about the surface of the rocky ledges. ”

“ At two we came again to an anchor in twenty-two fathom, with a rough bottom of gravel intermixed with broken shells, the watering-place now bearing from us N.W.1⁄2N. only three-quarters of a mile distant.
This island of Quibo is extremely convenient for wooding and watering, since the trees grow close to the high-water mark, and a large rapid stream of fresh water runs over the sandy beach into the sea: so that we were little more than two days in laying in all the wood and water we wanted. The whole island is of a very moderate height, excepting one part. ”

“ In the nineties, the Port Townsend and Southern line was laid to Quilcene, and the hope that the town would become an im- portant link led to a short-lived boom, which collapsed with the abandonment of plans for the rail line. Recently the rails from Port Discovery Bay to Quilcene were pulled up. Today, farming and dairy- ing are the major sources of income for the community. Quilcene is an outing center and is also the district headquarters for the Forest Service. Quilcene Bay, an arm of Dabop Bay, is known for its oyster culture. ”

“ The view outside of distant hills and a belt of pine trees fringing the shore reminded me strongly of the Bay of Point de Galle in Ceylon, where the eastern mail steamers used to call before the construction of the harbour at Colombo.
Kôchi Bay is in reality an estuary, with a very narrow outlet, much obstructed by rocks. We seemed to be running straight on to the sandy beach, when a sudden turn to the left put our head into the river, and we came to an anchor in fifteen feet of water inside a little cove. ”

“ Calms and contrary winds prevented either fleet from making much progress till the evening of the 19th, when the French were rather over 60 m. to the south-west of Belleisle, which is south of Quiberon. The wind had now changed to the north-west and was beginning to blow hard. M. de Conflans made for Quiberon under reduced canvas for fear of making the land in the night, the coast being one of the most dangerous in the world, on account of the rocky islands of Houat and Hoedik, and the long string of reefs which lie inside Belleisle. Hawke was steering in the same direction farther out at sea. ”

“ Finally, during this and the two following days, attempts were made to enter the bay. The other vessels did not come out; the wind did not go down; while, owing to the force of the wind the ship, having little sail on, and her head E.N.E., lost ground to such an extent that we found ourselves 20 leagues to leeward of the port, all looking at [281] those high mountains with sorrow at not being able to get near them.
The island of “Virgen Maria” was so hidden by mist that we could never get a sight of it. We saw the other island of “Belen,”1 and passed near another, 7 leagues long. ”

“ One hour from Quiberon, by a tiny steamboat, and one finds himself skirting the cliff walls surrounding and sheltering the little port and town of Palais on Belle Ile, overlooked by the powerful citadel built by Vauban, who, as the fortress-builder of France, stood in his profession where Napoleon did in his.
This “plus belle île de l’ocean” has forty-eight kilometres of coast-line, and every one of them has been so cut and serrated by the action of the waves that the island would form a veritable ocean graveyard were it situated on the direct line of travel by sea. ”

“ In 1820 a number of schooners, pinnaces, and small crafts plied up and down to Muchimo, Massangano, Cambembe, and other inland settlements; now we find out only a few canoes. The Cuanza at "Sleepers' Bay" has one of the worst shifting bars on the whole coast. At this distance, five leagues from the mouth, its width is one hundred fathoms, and the depth varies from eight to nine. It breeds good fish; the manatus is common, people talk of fresh-water sharks, and the jacare (crocodile) is fatal to many a pig even in the village. ”

“ This island of Juan Fernandez is about fifteen English miles in length from E. to W. and five miles where broadest, but averaging little more than two miles in breadth, and is mostly composed of high rugged land. I know of nothing in its neighbourhood which may endanger a ship, except what is distinctly visible. We anchored in the great bay, [La Baia or Cumberland harbour] on the N.E. side, about a mile from the bottom of the bay, our best bower being dropt in forty fathoms, and the stream anchor carried in with the shore, where it was laid in about thirty fathoms. ”