Introduction

The wreck of the British Navy store-ship Wager on the west coast of Patagonia in 1741 has been recorded for posterity by several survivors, each with his own tale of adventure and suffering; among these, the author of this present book.

Midshipman Isaac Morris was baptized in Topsham, Devon, in 1710, the son of Isaac and Frances Morris. Apart from this brief entry in the local parish register, we have not found any further information on his life prior to the Wager disaster. The village of Topsham, on the estuary of the River Exe, was an active fishing and shipbuilding port, so one can imagine that Isaac's interest in the sea started at an early age.

Soon after HMS Wager was wrecked, the survivors formed into two factions. Denying the authority of the ship's captain, one of these groups attempted to make its way back to Britain by travelling southward to the Strait of Magellan, then northward up the Atlantic coast. In an overcrowded, converted longboat, conditions were desperate, and many of the group died along the way.

Some distance south of Buenos Aires, the longboat approached land, to replenish water and food supplies. Although accounts of events differ, what is certain that eight of the survivors were left behind, among them our author. This is their story: /1/

Of the five separate accounts published by Wager survivors, only two (Byron, Bulkeley & Cummins) have appeared recently in reprints: /2/ none of the others (Campbell, Morris, Young) have been available in English in modern times, and only a few copies are held by major reference libraries around the world. We are therefore very pleased to be able to offer this electronic edition, as a companion to our web editions of Alexander Campbell and (attributed to) John Young, thus completing the collection. Please read on, and enjoy this remarkable tale of misfortune and survival. —> text begins here

Duncan Campbell
July 2007 (rev. October 2012)