438 Transactions. 



regret, that one of its flukes was broken, which, no doubt was 

 occasioned by the nature of the bottom. Thus, during many 

 hours the safety of the " Astrolabe " had depended upon nothing 

 but a thread, as it were. 



We then hauled on the broken cable, having care to 

 strengthen the buoy-rope with a solid mailon. That precaution 

 was useful, for hardly had the anchor approached the surface 

 when the buoy-rope broke, and without the mailon the anchor 

 had been lost. 



At 9.10 a.m. we got under way with a little sail to enter the 

 channel of communication between the two bays ; we passed 

 to starboard two rocks under water, very dangerous, and 

 shortly found ourselves in a basin of calm water, and which 

 presented no appearance of currents. As the breeze still held 

 in the west, I followed the east side at about 200 fathoms dis- 

 tance to hold the wind. Our navigation in that narrow channel, 

 between two chains of elevated mountains, had something 

 imposing in it : on one side thick forests, on the other copses, 

 or nothing but tall fern ; behind us Tasman Bay, losing itself 

 in the horizon ; before us the islands and islets of Admiralty 

 Bay, appearing through the pass as in a telescope, and gradually 

 increasing in size to the eye. Such was the extraordinary 

 spectacle, which we could have enjoyed if care of the vessel had 

 not prevented us. 



Arrived about 400 fathoms within the pass, I saw that it 

 was almost completely barred by rocks just showing above 

 water, and I was obliged to send M. Gressian to take a nearer 

 view, while I advanced slowly under very little sail. After 

 having taken some soundings, and examined the pass, that 

 officer returned and reported that it was practicable, though 

 very confined, and that the greatest depth was on the cast 

 side ; but that the current had commenced to enter, and that 

 without a strong breeze it would be difficult to contend with. 

 Nevertheless, I decided to try it, and made more sail. When 

 the corvette was not more than a cable's length from the pass 

 the bar all at once became covered with boiling foam, and the 

 water came rushing through in whirlpools of an unbelievable 

 violence. On the instant the corvette obeyed the action of the 

 currents, which carried her back rapidly into the bay of cur- 

 rents [Current Basin], making her turn round several times. 



I was better pleased to see her resting in the basin than 

 carried on to the breakers in the pass, but I was disappointed 

 as much as surprised to bud the current, instead of following 

 the middle of the channel, directing itself straight to the coast 

 on to a point [Point Tourbillons — Whirlpool Point] which was 

 immediately to the south of us. Thus, in two or three minutes, 



