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

GEN'KRAL REMAllKS. 39 and immediately fixed in some snug nook, where the undula- tion of the sea could not reach. The rise and fall of the tide should be registered every hour, during the stay of the Beagle, as well as the moments (stated whether in apparent or mean time) of high and low water, as nearly as they can be obtained ; and the periods at which the sea and land breezes spring up and fail should likewise be noted, with their effects on the tide, if they can be detected. A boat should be detached, on each tide, to some distance from the island, in order to ascertain the strength and direction of the stream ; and all these operations should be continued, if possible, through a whole lunation. " Compiling general and particular instructions, for the navigation of all the places which he may visit, will of course be an essential part of the Commander's duty ; but he will also have innumerable opportunities of collecting a variety of auxiliary information, which, when judiciously combined with the above instructions, of a purely nautical character, will much enhance their utility to all classes of vessels. Such as the general resources on which ships may depend in different places : the chief productions that can be obtained, and the objects most anxiously desired in return : the effect of seasons, of climate,, and of peculiar articles of food on the health of the crew, and many others which will readily occur to his mind, and which become of great value to a stranger. " On all the subjects touched on in these memoranda. Com- mander Fitz-Roy should be directed to draw up specific reports, and to transmit them from time to time, through their Lord- ship"'s Secretary, to the Hydrographic Office, so that if any disaster should happen to the Beagle, the fruits of the expedi- tion may not be altogether lost. Besides such reports, and with the same object in view, he should keep up a detailed corres- pondence by every opportunity with the Hydrographer. " The narrative of every voyage in the Pacific Ocean abounds with proofs of the necessity of being unremittingly on guard against the petty treacheries or more daring attacks of the natives. It should be recollected that they are no longer the timid and unarmed creatures of former times, but that many of