APPENDIX. 53.5 



N.N.W. and the weather had a very dull and gloomy appear- 

 ance, the wind increasing rapidly, and by noon it blew a 

 heavy gale at W.N.W. ; the barometer had fallen to 29.58, 

 at which it continued until midnight, when the wind drew to 

 the southward of west, and the mercury began to rise. The 

 gale continued unabated, with squalls and rain, until noon of 

 the 4th, although the barometer had been rising since the 

 previous midnight; in the afternoon the wind moderated, 

 and the weather became fine. 



From this it would appear that the barometer gives ample 

 warning of an approaching N.W. gale, as it had been falling 

 nearly four days before the commencement of the bad weather, 

 this alone ought to be suflBcient to put a man upon his guard 

 if near the shore. Between April the 29th,(the firstd ay of the 

 fresh north-easterly winds), and May the 3rd, (when the gale 

 was at its height, and the wind bjggan to draw to the southward 

 of west) the mercury had fallen 6-tenths. The change of current 

 did not precede the wind, but changed with it ; when the gale 

 was strong from N.W. and W.N.W. the current ran a knot 

 an hour to the S.E., and when the wind changed to S.W. it 

 ran with the same velocity to the N.E. 



The west coast of New Holland is at times visited by 

 sudden squalls, resembling hurricanes. I was told by the 

 master of an American whaler, that in March 1839, when in 

 company with several whalers off Sharks' Bay, he expe- 

 rienced some very bad weather, which came on suddenly, 

 without having given any previous warning, but it was not of 

 long continuance ; the gusts of wind were very violent, shifting 

 suddenly to all points of the compass. Some of the ships 

 suffered considerable damage, in loss of topmasts, &c. others 

 in sails, but all more or less. I think the first squall was from 

 N.E. off the land. 



The American whalers that resort to the west coast of 

 Australia, are upon different parts of it at all seasons of the 

 year; their range is between the parallel of 10° and 50° of 

 south latitude. In the summer they fish to the southward. 



