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

310 APPENDIX. No. 54. A FEW NAUTICAL REMARKS. Without extending this work to an unwieldy size, it would he impossible to give particular descriptions of, or saiUng directions for, half the anchorages surveyed by the Beagle and her consorts. I can here only allude to some which are least easy of access ; and for details concerning the rest, I must ask the reader to refer to Captain King's Sailing Directions, pubHshed by the Admiralty in 1832 ; and, hereafter, to a similar work, which I am compiling. In approaching or entermg any port between the southern coast of Brazil and Tierra del Fuego,* both leads and charts must be closely attended to, tides and currents must be well considered, and the colour, as well as rippling of the water, narrowly watched. Generally speaking, much of this extent of coast is comparatively shallow, and beset with insidious dangers in the shape of banks and currents. Where rocks occur they are less to be feared, because their position is, in most cases,t pointed out by kelp.j. Some of the banks are particularly dangerous, being exceecUngly steep-sided and hard. Where there is a strong stream or great rise of tide, or where both are found, the i"isk of approaching such banks is proportionably increased. Of the River Plata I have spoken briefly in Chapter IV., and of Blanco Bay there is a shght description in Chapter V. of the second volume. Before entering PortBelgrano (within Blanco Bay), or any similar port, such as False Bay, Green Bay, Brightman Inlet, Union Bay, &c. I should advise anchoring, and ascertaining the ship's position exactly, sending a boat to find the middle of the principal entrance, and there dropping a buoy with a good anchor. If the weather is at aU hazy, no marks on the distant low land will be made out by a stranger, until he has had time to take a few angles, look round from the masthead, and examine the chart leisurely. These things cannot be so well done while the ship is saiUng fast ; she may, how- ever, be brought to for a time. * Except at the Falklands. + That in the entrance of Port Desire is a notable exception to the general rule J Seaweed growing in rocky places.