HOMEWARD VOYAGE. 367 



early in October along the head of the bay, the pilots cruise 

 off "the tail of Saugor Sand, in lat. 21° north, and long, 

 about 88° 40' east. It is very essential at this season to 

 keep well to windward of the reefs, for the tides set con- 

 stantly to the west and south-west. Coming up the bay 

 in the north-east monsoon, a ship should get into about lat. 

 21° 7' north, well to the eastward of Saugor Sand, and steer 

 west in eight and a half fathoms at low water, and ten at 

 high water. In this parallel, the bottom is soft till the 

 depth suddenly decreases over a hard bottom on Saugor 

 Sand. The success of this proceeding will greatly depend 

 on a strict attention to the tides ; for if a ship is set to the 

 southward of 21° 7', in running westward she will miss 

 the Saugor Sand, and get her first hard cast on the Eastern 

 Sea-reef It seems therefore advisable to cross the tail of 

 Saugor Sand, and work up as far as the Reef-buoy in search 

 of a'pilot, taking care not to stand more than one-half or 

 two-thirds of the channel over towards the Saugor Sand. 

 When the north-east monsoon is prevailing in the Bay of 

 Bengal, ships bound for Calcutta should enter the southern 

 limit of the south-east trade, so as to enable them to cross 

 the line in about long. 90° east. From about 10° south 

 lat., variable winds, mostly from west and north-west, may be 

 espected till the limit of the north-east monsoon is reached. 

 From the equator a course ought to be shaped with refer- 

 ence to the winds encountered ; thus, if the wind hang to 

 the eastward, endeavour to close with the Nicobars, and 

 stand up the bay to the westward of these islands and the 

 Andamans. The old practice of going to the eastward is 

 now exploded, and a ship is more likely to make a passage 

 by working up the east side of the bay in the open sea, than 

 by closing with the Arracan shore or Andaman Islands. 



It wiirbe needful to make a few remarks on the home- 

 ward voyage, although most of the foregoing observations 

 may be applied generally to outward or homeward bound 

 ships. From Bengal or Madras, homeward bound ships 

 should, at all seasons of the year, endeavour to cross the 

 line in about 87° or 90° east long. ; and, having entered the 

 south-east trade, it will be prudent, particularly in February, 

 March, and April, to pass well to the eastward of Roderigue, 

 to avoid the hurricanes which sometimes occur in the vicinity 

 of this island and the Mauritius. These hurricanes are less 



