May 23, 1859.] ADMIRALTY SURVEYS— IRELAND— MEDITERRANEAN. 265 



to rendering that fine longh a harbour of refuge. It is gratifying to 

 know that the result of their examination proves that there is no 

 obstacle that may not be easily overcome, and that there is a fair 

 probability that within three years we shall see a refuge harbour in 

 this portion of the Irish Sea, where it is so much needed. 



In Donegal, on the north coast, Captain Bedford and Lieut. 

 Horner have completed that portion of the shore which was re- 

 quired to fill up the gap in our charts ; all that now remains is to 

 carry the soundings oif shore to a depth of 100 fathoms. In addition 

 to his usual labours, Captain Bedford, at the request of the Eefuge 

 Harbours Commission, prepared a report on the want of lights and 

 buoys on the north-west coast of Ireland, from Galway round to 

 Londonderry, a valuable document, being the result of his 20 years' 

 experience, which is printed in the Appendix to the Eeport of that 

 Commission. 



In Kerry, on the south-west coast, Commander Edye, with Messrs. 

 Macdougall and W. B. Calver, have been employed on the Blasket 

 Isles round from Dingle Bay to the Skerries, in the course of which 

 they have sounded over an area of several square miles. This com- 

 pletes the survey of the shores of Ireland : it only remains to carry 

 the soundings off shore to the depth of 100 fathoms. 



In the course of the past year the charts published of the coast of 

 Ireland are Dunmanus Bay in Cork on the scale of 3 inches. Loughs 

 Swilly and Foyle and the river and harbour of Londonderry on the 

 scale of If inches to a mile, the latter showing ihe new quays, and 

 the admirable lighting and beaconing of the river and lough, which 

 have been carried out by the enterprise of the Harbour Commis- 

 sioners of Derry, seconded by the skill of their engineers the Messrs. 

 D. and T. Stevenson of Edinburgh. 



Mediterranean. — The channel between Malta and Gozo has been 

 re-examined by Captain Spratt, f.r.g.s., and Lieut. Wilkinson, in 

 H.M.S. Medina, and a second Eeport has been written by the 

 former, showing how the Nile continues to bring down its deposits, 

 and how the advance of the delta is checked by the littoral drift 

 from the west ; a subject on which I shall dwell in the sequel. 

 Captain Spratt has also presented to the Society a dissertation on 

 the site of Pelusium, which he does not believe to have been at 

 the ruins of Tineh as has been generally supposed, but at some 

 place rather farther inland. 



Lieut. Wilkinson, under the direction of Captain Spratt, has made a 

 general chart, showing at one view his surveys of the delta of the 



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