140 REAR-ADMIRAL F. W. BEECIIEY'S ADDRESS. [May 26, 185G. 



vancing along the northern shore of the peninsula which forms the 

 southern limit of Tralee Bay. 



A little farther to the southward, on the same coast, Commander 

 Church and Lieutenant Veitch have mapped the shore of Keiiy, 

 from Ballinskelligs Bay to Port Magee, and for the first time laid 

 down correctly and given us the soundings around those striking 

 schistose rocks, the Skelligs, which rise, almost precipitously, to a 

 height of 700 feet above the level of the water, and on which bursts 

 the whole force of the Atlantic ocean swell. This was a labour of 

 no common kind, and required for its accomplishment a combination 

 of skill, seamanship, and persevering energy that falls to the lot of 

 few.* 



Baltic. — A time of warfare, at first sight, would not seem favour- 

 able to the advancement of hydrographical knowledge, or at 

 least to the more peaceful branches of science, yet, observes 

 Captain Washington, we are enabled to state that at the close of 

 the struggle now happily terminated our acquaintance with the 

 Baltic, and the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia, is considerably in 

 advance of what it was when the campaign opened ; but it is to the 

 Danish, Swedish, and Russian charts of those seas that we owe the 

 fact of our ships being enabled to pass the Kattegat, the Belts, and 

 the Sound without hesitation, and to navigate the inner gulfs of the 

 Baltic without danger. Notwithstanding all the vague assertions to 

 the contrary, it does not admit of a question, that no fleet ever left 

 the shores of Great Britain so well provided with charts as the 

 Baltic fleet. It is but an act of justice to the eminent hydrographers 

 of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia (with w^hose charts the 

 fleet was furnished), that their fame should be vindicated. The 

 names of Zahrtmann, Klint, Vibe, and liutke are of European repu- 

 tation, and afford ample guarantee for the accuracy of the charts 

 published under their superintendence. That opportunities have 

 since been aflbrded for making additions to them is only what might 



* It is with extreme regret that I have to add that this was the last labour of 

 Commander Church. On his way to Ireland, after depositing his charts at the 

 Admiralty, he was suddenly taken ill at Bristol, and in three days was no more. His 

 worn-out frame, which had toiled for many years under an African sun, and had 

 bravely buffeted with the Atlantic surge while mapping the coasts of Cork and 

 Kerry, sunk under the attack, and thus deprived H.M. service of one of the best of 

 its sui-veyors. Skilful, energetic, zealous, of unbending integrity, and a thorough 

 seaman, he combined all the qualities of an accomplished surveyor; and so long 

 as the Fastnet Rock and Cape Clear continue to be the landfall of vessels crossing 

 the Atlantic from America, the mariner will have cause to bless the skilful hand 

 that, by accurately defining the dangers of that iron-bound coast, has converted 

 them into friendly landmarks for which the sailor may safely steer. 



