Departure of the Frigate ft'om Valparaiso. 323 



breeze to weigh anchor and set sail. Unfortunately, how- 

 ever, none such sprung uj), and when towards 7 a. m. a gentle 

 breeze at last rippled the water, it did not last long enough 

 to enable the vessel to clear the roads. The captain of H. 

 M. S. Ganges (80), who, as also Admiral Baines, the venerable 

 Commander-in-chief of the British naval forces on the Pacific 

 station, had already in a variety of ways cordially cooperated 

 with and aided the Austrian Expedition, sent some of his 

 boats to tow the frigate out of the roads, in which the French 

 corvette Constantine, which had arrived the day before, po- 

 litely assisted. Thus towed along by no less than 14 boats, 

 the Novara succeeded in getting into the open ocean. Fa- 

 voured with a gentle breeze from the northward, she was 

 soon able to lie her course, and towards evening, when a 

 rather fi-esh S. W. sprang up, she was rapidly leaving the 

 hospitable shores of Chile. 



The Commodore thought it advisable to make an offing of 

 from 100 to 200 miles parallel with the coast, and to keep 

 increasing his distance even against contrary winds, so as 

 to permit of his rounding Terra del Fuego, running free be- 

 fore the S.W. winds, prevalent at that season off the Horn. 



The weather was from time to time heavy and unfavour- 

 able, besides being cold and rainy, but on the whole it was 

 a very fair passage for the winter season. But few observa- 

 tions could be got, though there were enough to admit of keep- 

 ing the ship on her course. Only once did it happen that no 



observations could be got for several days, till, during tlie 



Y 2 



