1839. J SAILING OP THE SQUADRON. 77 



nessed. The Magellan Clouds, the Zodiacal Light, and the 

 brilliant constellation of the Southern Cross, whose magic 

 beauties have so often been remarked and admired by trav- 

 ellers in the Polar regions, were seen in all their perfection. 

 Other luciform appearances, less striking, perhaps, but full 

 of interest and beauty, were likewise observed. 



From these vast southern solitudes, where the sea-lion, the 

 petrel, the albatross and the penguin, are rarely disturbed in 

 their ice-bound retreats, Captain Hudson and Lieutenant 

 "Walker gladly turned the heads of their vessels to the north, 

 when they found that the season was so far advanced, that 

 nothing further could be gained by protracting their stay. 



(10.) The Flying Fish sailed for Orange Harbor, where 

 she arrived on the 11th of April, and the Peacock shaped her 

 course for Valparaiso. On the 17th of April, orders were 

 issued to the squadron at Orange Harbor to get under way. 

 The Vincennes and Porpoise dropped down to Scapenham 

 Bay in the afternoon, when the wind being light and un- 

 favorable, they came to anchor. A heavy squall coming up, 

 they ran back into Orange Bay for a few hours. At daylight 

 on the 18th, a more propitious breeze finally wafted them 

 from those desolate regions, and launched them upon the 

 broad and comparatively peaceful bosom of the Pacific* 

 The south east trades are the favorite winds of this ocean, 

 but it was not until the Exploring Squadron had passed the 

 latitude of Chiloe, that they felt the genial influence of these 

 prosperous gales, which wafted them on far more rapidly than 

 before towards the Valley of Paradise. 



Early in the morning of the 12th of May, they came in 

 sight of the coast of Chili, and not long after, the grand and 

 majestic peaks of the Andes were seen towering up in the 

 back ground. In a few days, the Vincennes and Porpoise 

 joined the Peacock in the harbor of Valparaiso. The Sea 

 Gull and Flying Fish were left at Orange Harbor to await 

 the return of the Relief from her cruise in the Straits of Ma- 



* The Pacific received its name from Magellan, in consequence of the pros- 

 perous weather with which he was favored while navigating its surface. 



