NAUTICAL REMARKS. 339 



Conception or Valparaiso. Tn high latitudes the prevailino- 

 winds are from W.N.W. to S.W., which are, at worst, lead- 

 ing winds. In latitude 44-° 16' S. and longitude 78o 36' W. 

 we got S.E. winds, which, with a few hours' intermission of 

 wind from N.E. by E., brought us to Conception on the tenth 

 day from that on which we considered ourselves fairly round 

 the Horn. Some officers are of opinion that near the coast 

 of Chiloe moderate weather and southerly winds are more 

 prevalent than in the offing, which I think highly probable ; 

 and if, after reaching the 81st meridian, the winds came from 

 N.W., I should certainly prefer the in-shore track to stretch- 

 ing ao-ain to the S.W. 



With regard to the best time of the year for rounding Cape 

 Horn, there is a great difference of opinion, as in the same 

 months both good and bad passages have been made ; but I 

 should certainly not select the winter time if I had my choice. 

 Independent of the cold, which, during gales of wind, is se- 

 verely felt by a ship's company necessarily wet and exposed, 

 and the probability of meeting with floating islands of ice, 

 surely the long nights, as Captain Hall has justly observed, 

 must augment in a serious degree the difficulties of the navi- 



gation. 



From the passage of the Blossom, a preference might be 

 given to the month of September; but in the very same 

 month Captain Falcon in tlie Tyne had a very long and 

 boisterous passage. I concur in opinion with Cook, Perouse, 

 Krusenstern, and others, in thinking there is no necessity 

 whatever for going far to the Southward, and I should al- 

 ways recommend standing on that tack which gained most 

 longitude, without paying any regard to latitude, further than 

 taking care to keep south (sa}^ a degree) of Cape Horn. 

 With a N.W. wind I would stand S.W., and with a S.W. 

 wind N. W., and so on. If there was a doubt, I should cive 

 the preference to the southern tack, unless far advanced in 

 that direction. We did not find the strongest winds near the 

 land, but on the contrary ; and I am of opinion that here, as 

 is the case in many other places, they do not blow home, and 

 that within thirty miles of the land the sea is partly broken 



