BEAGLE BANK. 185 



and with from 25 to 35 fathoms between them. 

 The specimens of this beautiful submarine pro- 

 duction brought up by the lead, were of the most 

 delicate kind, nor on any occasion did the lead pre- 

 sent any appearance to indicate that it had fallen 

 amons^ a coarser sort. One beautiful frao^ment was 

 obtained in Sunday Strait in 30 fathoms, a depth at 

 which living coral is rarely found. 



April 5. — Daylight on the 5th found us standing 

 to the eastward — E.N.E. — with a light northerly 

 wind, in soundings ranging from 14 to 40 fathoms, 

 and over a bottom, of white and brown sand in the 

 deep, and coral rock in the shoal water. In the 

 afternoon we had the good fortune to discover one 

 of the reefs, which render the navigation of this 

 part of the coast rather hazardous. The position 

 of this danger, is however well marked by a bank 

 of very white sand and dead coral, from which the 

 reef extends two miles and a half, in a N.N.W. and 

 one mile in a S.S.E. direction; and which rising some 

 15 feet above the mean level of the blue surrounding 

 water, became a conspicuous object from our deck, 

 even at the distance of six miles. We gave our 

 discovery the name of Beagle Bank, as another 

 memorial of the useful services in which our little 

 vessel had been so frequently engaged, and our obser- 

 vations enabled us to fix the centre of it in latitude 

 15" 20' S., longitude 123" 36' E. We anchored in 

 the evening in 16 fathoms, the bank distant 3 J 

 miles in a S. by E. direction : half a mile nearer 



