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

APPENDIX. 269 light brown colour and well wooded. There are seveial small bays between it and Point Malpelo, which bears N. 41° E., seven and a half leagues distant. Point Malpelo, the southern point of the entrance of Guayaquil River, may be readily known by the marked diiference between it and the coast to the southward : it is very low and covered wibh bushes to its extreme ; a short distance in-shore, is a clump of bushes higher and more conspicuous than the rest, which shews plainly on approaching. At the extremity of the point is the River Tumbes off which a reef extends, to the distance of a quarter of»a mile. This place is much frequented by whalers, for fresh- water, which is found about a mile from the entrance, where they fill their boats from alongside ; great care is necessary in crossing the bar, as a heavy and dangerous* surf beats on it, rendering it at all times difficult to cross. 1 The entrance to the river may be distinguished by a hut on the port hand going in, which is perceived immediately you round the point. About two leagues up the river stood the old town of Tumbes, now scarcely more thah a few huts, barely sufficient to supply the whalers with fruit and vegetables. This is the boundary line, between Peru and the State of the Equator. You may anchor any where off the point in six or seven fathoms. Winds. The prevailing winds on the coast of Peru blow from S.S.E. to S.W. ; seldom stronger than a fresh breeze, and often in particular parts scarcely sufficient to enable shipping to make their passages from one port to another. This is especially the case on the south and south-western coast, between Cobija and Callao. Sometimes during the summer, for three or four successive days, there is not a breath of vdnd ; the sky is beautifully clear, with a nearly vertical sun. On the days that the sea-breeze sets in, it generally commences about ten in the morning ; then light and variable, but gradually increasing till one or two in the afternoon. From that time, a steady breeze prevails till near sunset, when it begins to die away ; and soon after the sun is down there is a calm. About eight or nine