ENTER PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR. 143 



And liere let me, in justice to their respec- 1824. 

 tive makers^% give my testimony in favom' of Novemb. 

 our chronometers^ which made the land to a 

 mile, after having undergone many most se- 

 vere shocks, and much exposure, for above 

 five months. When we struck so heavily on 

 the 1st of September, they were badly shaken, 

 and in any rough weather their cots would 

 frequently strike the beams. They had been 

 carried in the pocket, and put in the boats in 

 the hurry of preparing to quit the ship on the 

 above day, and yet continued their rates with 

 so small a variation that it does not deserve 

 mention. 



On the 9tli, with a strong west-south-west 

 wind, we ran past the Start and Berry Head, 

 and passing the Portland lights at night, hove 

 to off St. Alban's Head until morning of the 

 10th; when, making sail, we procured a 

 pilot, and, at ten, passed the Needles. In 

 our distressed state, without anchors, I deter- 

 mined on running into Portsmouth Harbour, 

 as the tide would serve until two P.M., and 

 the wind was so fresh, that had we lost the 

 flood, we could not have remained under sail 

 all night in safety at Spithead. Accordingly, 



* Messrs. Parkinson and Frodsham, Barwise, and 

 Morris. 



