Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

90 LOSS OF A BOAT. 1820-32. stream anchors with half a cable on each, and riding with a whole cable on each bower, in four fathoms water, over very soft tenacious ground. Part of her forecastle netting was washed away by the sea, though she was an excellent roadster, and at that time drawing a foot less water than usual. She also lost a boat in a manner so likely to be of future occurrence, that I will yet digress, in hopes of being useful, by relating the incident. Her barge, ably managed by an experienced seaman,* had tried to beat off from the town to the ship, during the com- mencement of the gale, but could get no farther than the leewardmost merchantman in the outer road. Astern of that vessel she was made fast by a strong hawser, and there rode out the gale admirably until the current began to set out of the river: when the boat was carried against the vessel, and knocked to pieces before any thing could be done to save her, as the sea was running high, and the wind still blowing a gale. The Druid frigate, when lying therej-f would have lost a boat in the same way, had it not been one of those excellent diagonal boats, built by Mr. Johns; for it was taken, by the strong weather current, under the ship's bot- tom, and kept striking there long enough to have broken any ordinary boat into a thousand pieces ; but nevertheless she appeared again with only her gunwales injured, the bottom being still perfectly sound. The Plata has been called by the Spaniarcjs ' El Infierno de los marineros ;' sufficient stress has not however been laid on the redeeming qualities which it possesses in having anchoring ground every where, and in soundings, whose nature tells whether you are approaching danger; as on and near the banks the bottom is hard ; while in the deeper water it is very soft. I have remarked that before a continuance of southerly winds the water rises considerably in this river ; and I may * The first who took a steam-vessel to the West-Indies, t In 1832.