1845.] SAN NICOLAS SHOALS. 77 



parted his bobstays, and finding it impossible to preserve 

 his spars under the heavy head sea which prevailed, he 

 had run hither to repair damages. He also acquainted 

 me with the very great courtesy which he had experienced 

 from the Governor of Manila, and the Brigadier command- 

 ing the Naval forces of Spain in the Philippines, as well 

 as the kindness and facilities afforded him by Captain 

 Villavicentio, Commandant of the Arsenal at Cavite. 

 After paying my respects to His Excellency, General 

 Claveria, Governor- General of the Philippines, and 

 thanking him for his attention, I suggested the propriety 

 of making a minute examination of the San Nicolas 

 shoals, which at this moment presented new features, from 

 the failure of a plan conceived, I believe, by Capt. 

 Salomon, the previous Captain of the port, for converting 

 it into an island. This was to be effected by sinking a 

 vessel charged with soil and young Mangrove trees, im- 

 mediately on the crest of the bank, on which there was 

 previously ten feet, and by filling around her with stones 

 it was hoped, that in a few years, the coralline zoo- 

 phytes would agglutinate all so firmly, that a conspicuous 

 island, and, ultimately, a light-house would beacon this 

 danger. Nature, however, rebelled, leaving a pile of stones 

 and the fluke of an anchor, over which there is now about 

 three feet at low water. Permission was granted, and 

 during our detention for the ' Royalist ', the boats found 

 occupation in outlining this new bank. 



Great difficulty was experienced in meeting with a 

 spar fit to replace the injured fore-mast ; several were 

 tried, but proved unsound, and as her old mast was too 

 heavy, and none but those of treble its density could be 



