324 ■ VOYAGE TO THE 



CHAP, exposed to the night air ; and I regret to add that we 

 ^"•^^ here lost Thomas Moore, one of our most active seaman, 

 ja"^ On the 27th of January, 1828, the agitation occa- 

 ^^^^' sioned by the revolt had subsided, but unfortunately 

 too late for me to proceed to Guaynias. However, as 

 the principal part of the specie was to be shipped at 

 Mazatlan, we put to sea a few days earher than neces- 

 sary for that purpose, that we might examine the Tres 

 Marias and Isabella Islands, of which an account will 

 Feb. be found in the Appendix. On the 3d February we 

 reached Mazatlan, a very exposed anchorage, in which 

 ships are obliged to lie so close to the shore that there 

 would be very great difficulty in putting to sea with 

 the wind from the W.S.W. to S.E. In the course of 

 our survey, a rock having only eleven feet water upon 

 it was discovered nearly in the centre of the anchorage, 

 and occasioned no little surprise that of the many 

 vessels which had put into the port all should have 

 escaped being damaged upon it. Mazatlan is more 

 healthy than San Bias, and our people here began to 

 recover from the disorders they had contracted at that 



place. 



February 7th. — Having embarked the specie on the 

 24th, we put to sea on our return to San Bias, and ran 

 along the shore with a northerly wind which is here 

 prevalent from November to June. Lieutenant Bel- 

 cher, in the cutter, kept in shore of the ship, and filled 

 in those parts of the coast which could not be seen by 

 her ; and we thus completed a survey of the coast from 

 Mazatlan to several miles South of San Bias. Between 

 these two ports the water shoals so gradually that there 

 is no danger whatever. 



In my former visit to this place I found it necessary 

 to proceed to Tepic to meet the merchants in consul- 



