1843.] QUIT SIMON'S BAY. 11 



following I was joined by Lieut. Clerk, R.A., of the 

 Magnetic Observatory, who was desirous of witnessing 

 the operation of swinging the ' Samarang' for local at- 

 traction, and reached Simon's Bay in the evening. On 

 the 30th H.M.S ' Thunderer, ' &c., arrived with troops, 

 and on the 5th of May, H.M.S. ' Cleopatra.' After a 

 pleasant sojourn at Simon's Bay we quitted on the 

 morning of the 5th, with a fair wind from the north- 

 ward, and before noon were well to the southward of 

 Cape Hanglip. Our observing position at Simon's Bay 

 was the same as that used by Capt. Sir J. C. Ross, 

 and by myself twelve months previously on my home- 

 ward voyage in the ' Sulphur'. It is marked by a post 

 and well known to the people of the dock-yard, but 

 somewhat liable to be overgrown by grass and shrubs ; 

 a spring at which cattle come to drink, serves, however, 

 in some measure, to indicate the locality. Leaving 

 Simon's Bay I now began to search for documents likely 

 to assist me in selecting the best route for this season ; 

 Horsburgh's Directory proved to be of little or no service, 

 and upon referring to the ' Analysis of a Hundred Voy- 

 ages', before alluded to, that authority was equally un- 

 satisfactory, although furnishing a better insight into 

 general passages made at trading seasons. No warning 

 of the discomforts, or even dangers, to which we should 

 be liable occur in either ; I had, however, already made 

 the voyage to Ceylon in H.M.S. ' Southampton', in July, 

 and was not unprepared for inauspicious weather. In 

 that ship we split a close-reefed main-top-sail, and were 

 reduced to our fore-sail for some days. 



The ' Samarang', when deep, is an uneasy sea- boat ; 



