Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.1): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

312 PLAYA PARDA ABRA BOUJA. April 1830. experienced no current. At daylight we were in the entrance of the ' Long Reach,' abreast of Cape Monday. While passing the opening opposite to Playa Parda, a schooner was observed at anchor, and a boat was seen coming out to us. It contained the mate of the schooner Industry, of New Bedford, who informed us that she had been lying there, weather-bound, for nearly a month. He came to make inquiries about good anchorages to the westward (having already lost two anchors), and to learn in what part of the Strait he was his own idea being, that the vessel was under Cape Monday. Having given him the required information, we proceeded but the wind fell light, and we were glad to anchor in the cove of Playa Parda. With our chains we found it safe ; but the bottom, being rocky, would probably do much injury to hempen cables. The opening opposite to us, where the schooner was lying, was evidently Sarmiento's ' Abra.' It appeared to us to be a mile and a half wide, with an island in the entrance. Within, it seemed to take a south, then a south-west direction, and afterwards to trend round a low hummocky point of the eastern shore, under a high, precipitous ridge, on the opposite or wes- tern shox-e, towards the S.E. ; beyond this its course could not be observed. When passing through this part of the Strait, Captain Stokes found the weather so bad, that although the distance across was only two or three miles, the shores were often concealed by clouds and rain, so as to render it impossible for him to make any survey of them. We were detained the two following days by bad weather. On the 5th we proceeded, but before we got abreast of Snowy Sound, heavy rain set in, which lasted all day. As we passed Borja Bay, a schooner was observed at anchor in it, so like the Adelaide, that we altered our course to com- municate with her. From a boat which came off to us, we learned that it was a sealing-vessel, called the Hope, of New York, going through the Strait, from Staten Land. She had seen nothing of the Adelaide. When abreast of Bachelor River, a canoe, containing two