Lot 232: Lieutenant William Smyth (Irish, 1800-1877) The Malpaso del Estero, Chile

The Malpaso del Estero, Chile
signed and indistinctly inscribed 'River .../Malpaso del Estero/Lieut Wm Smyth RN' (verso), gouache
14.8 x 22cm (5 13/16 x 8 11/16in).

William Smyth R.N. joined the navy in April 1913, and from June 1831 to early 1835 he was lieutenant under Captain Charles Henry Paget on H.M.S Samarang in the Pacific.

During 1834-5 he undertook a voyage down the Amazon with his fellow officer Frederick Lowe (1811-1847). The following year, they published an account of this journey entitled Narrative of a Journey from Lima to Para, across the Andes and down the Amazon, Undertaken with a View of Ascertaining the Practicability of a Navigable Communication with the Atlantic, by the Rivers Pachitea, Ucayali, and Amazon.

An entry made on 9th January 1835 records their time at the Malpaso del Estero, together with an illustration of a view similar to that shown in the present lot:

'In about an hour we came to the Malpaso del Estero, where we were obliged to take out half our cargoes, and draw the canoes over a reef of rocks which produced a heavy overfall: this operation consumed near two hours. We then descended a short distance, to a little bay, which we put into, and secured the canoes, cleared a place for our tent, which we pitched, and laid up for the night. In the middle of the night we were awakened by things repeatedly falling on the tent, which proved to be a family of monkeys who inhabited the trees over our heads.'