2 ADMIRALTY INSTRUCTIONS. 



who succeeded to the command of the Rattlesnake^ 

 upon the death of our late lamented Captain^ at 

 S3'dney^ m March 1850^ after the successful accom- 

 plishment of the principal objects of the expedition. 



" By the Commissioners for executing the Office of 

 Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of 

 Great Britain and Ireland, &c. 



" Whereas_, it being the usual practice of vessels return- 

 ing from the Austrahan Colonies, or from the South Sea, 

 to proceed to India tlirough Torres Strait; and most of 

 those vessels preferring the chance of finding a convenient 

 opening in the Barrier Reefs to the labour of frequent 

 anchorage in the In-shore Passage, it was thought fit to send 

 out an expedition under Captam Francis Blackwood, to 

 determine which was the best opening that those reefs 

 would afford, and to make such a survey thereof as would 

 ensui'e the safety of all vessels which should continue to 

 adopt that mode of reaching the Strait : 



" And whereas, although that specific object was suc- 

 cessfully achieved by the survey of Baine Island Passage, 

 and by the erection of a durable beacon there to render it 

 the more accessible, yet it appears that much is still to be 

 done in those seas in order to make the approach to the 

 Strait more secure and certain, as well as to afford the 

 choice of another entrance fartlier to the northward in case 

 of vessels overshooting the latitude of Raine Island by 

 stress of wind, or current : 



" We have, therefore, thought proper to appoint you to 

 the command of the Rattlesnake, for the purpose of carry- 

 ing out these objects ; and you are hereby required and 

 directed, when that ship is in every respect ready for sea, 

 to proceed in her to Madeira for the verification of your 



