1821. 



Captaiii Freycinet's I 



the officnrs under his coinniaiul. Nu- 

 merous observations were made in 

 seftvch of the magnetic equator and its 

 inflexions, in tlie Great Ocean. 



On the 30th of August the Urania 

 sailed for Port Jackson, passing through 

 the islands of the Austral Polynesia. 

 By taking fiiis track, tlie position of the 

 dangerous isles of Byron was rectified, 

 as well as that of the Island of Pyletant, 

 the most southerly of the Friendly Is- 

 lands, and also that of Howe Island. 

 A new island surrounded by dangerous 

 re^fs, was discovered to the east of 

 Ttmga, which M. de Freycinet named 

 Wose Island. 



The Urania anchored in Port Jack- 

 son on the ISth of Novemher, 1819 ; 

 she remained there till the 25th of De- 

 ceml)er, and this interval was employed 

 as at all the preceding stoppages, in 

 scientific inquiries. M. de Freycinet 

 speaks in this respect with gratitude 

 for the assiblance aflbrded to him by 

 Gen. Macquarie, the governor of the 

 colony. 



On quitting Port Jackson, (lie course 

 of the corv(?tte was shaped to pass 

 between Van Diemen's Laud and New 

 Zealand. On the 7th of Jauuarj^, 1820, 

 the southern extremity of the latter 

 islands was doubled in sight of Camp- 

 bell's Island. From that moment until 

 ncaring the coast of Terra del Fuego 

 the winds were constantly favourable. 

 The Urania reached 59 degrees of south 

 latitude, and she found floating ice in 

 the .>4th degree. 



On the 5th of February the joast of 

 Terra del Fuego Mas seen in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Cape Desolation ; the sea- 

 son was as frightful as the adjoining 

 shores. In tlie impossibility of reach- 

 ing Christmas Harbour, it became ne- 

 cfssaiy to make for the Bay of Good 

 Success, in the straits of Lemaire; but 

 scarcely iiad the anclioi-dro])ped, when 

 a furious stoi lu caused tlieshi() to drive. 

 There was not a moment to be lost in 

 cutting the cable and setting sail with 

 all speed, to get out of the bay, and 

 she skirted at a veiy short distance the 

 rocks and breakers which lie upon its 

 north point. 



This tempest lasted two «lays, and 

 drove the vessel considerably to the 

 northward, mIucIi determined M. de 

 Freycinet to bear up for the Falkland 

 Islands, in sight of which they arrived 

 on the 14th of February, according to 

 their rerUoning, but the l.'ltli accord- 

 ing to European time, they having 

 gained a day in ciicumnavigating the 

 globe. 



oyage of Discovery. 253 



TJie Urania was lost in consequence 

 of striking on a sunken rock at the 

 entrance of French Bay, in the Falk- 

 land Islands, when they ^verc taken off 

 by an American whaler, and taken 

 first to Rio Janeiro, and afltrwards to 

 Havre de Grace, where they arrived, 

 with most of the collections made dur- 

 ing tlie voyage. 



Detailed accounts will make known 

 all their labours, but the following is 

 a rapid glance at them : — 



1. The observations on the pendulum, 

 which formed one of the principal ob- 

 jects of the voyage, have been made 

 with the greatest care in every situation 

 throughout the voyage. They were 

 nine in number, viz. Rio Janeiro; the 

 Cape of Good Hope ; Port Louis, in the 

 Isle of France ; the Island of Rawak ; 

 the Island of Guam ; the Island of 

 Mowa, in the Sandwich Isles ; Port 

 Jackson : the Falkland Islands, and 

 at Rio Janeiro. 



2. Each day during the voyage, two 

 officers at least took by rotation, asti-o- 

 nomical observations to ascertain the 

 situation of the vessel at sea, and on 

 shore, the positions of the diftercnt 

 observatories ; to regulate the chrono- 

 meters, &c. 



3. The magnetic jdienomena were at 

 the same time the object of constant 

 and multiplied study, as well at sea as 

 in all the places at which they touched. 

 They comprise observations on the 

 magnetic declination and inclination; 

 on the intensity of both when tried by 

 the horizontal needle, or the needle of 

 inclination, and also on the hourlj' and 

 jieriodical variations in the declination. 



4. Comparative obsei'vations on the 

 temperature of the air, with that of the 

 sea at its surface, were made every two 

 hours during (he whole course of the 

 voyage. Tliis considerable mass of 

 results may be useful to determine the 

 lines of equal heat on the terrestrial 

 globe. 



5. More than sixty specimens of sea- 

 water, taken in the seas «'hich they tra- 

 versed, were put into as many flasks, 

 perfectly sealed up, in order to be 

 analysed on tiieir return. Each flask 

 was labelled with the latitude and lon- 

 gitude of the spot where the water was 

 drawn. 



6. A mcteorogical journal, kept 

 every liour during the whole voyage, 

 will show in methodical oi-der all tlic 

 observations on the thermometer, the 

 baromciter, and the hydrometer, which 

 they made both by sea and laud. They 

 will also bIiow the indications of the 

 prevailing 



