C76 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON WINDS. ETC. 



thought to be a sqnall, but -which turned out to be a kind of mist or warna steam, 

 which lasted half an hour ; the wind was N.E. The waves then changed to a kind 

 of boiling, or topping sea, as if surged up from below, but it returned to its former 

 state, when the mist was passed. This position would be about 87 miles to 

 N. by W. of the given position of Whale Rock, and 93 miles N.E. by E. i E. from 

 Terceira. 



GouGH OR Harrison Rocks. — In the chart by M. Rochette, 1778, dangers were 

 shown in lat. 40° 28' N., long. 30" W. (about 90 miles north-eastward of Corvo), 

 with the words " Rocks seen by Captains Gough and Birch." Van Keulen and 

 Bellin also indicated several dangers in the vicinity to the N.E., but their ex- 

 istence has been denied by the pilots of the Azores. 



Captain Livingston says: — " Captain Beaufort, of the brig Concord, told me at 

 Malaga, in 1820, that he twice saw Gough and Birch Rocks, when bound from 

 Newfoundland to Lisbon ; that one of them is about 12 ft., and the other 8 ft. 

 above water ; and that they lie nearly in the longitude originally assigned them, 

 but 5' more to the northward." 



Another report states that Gough Rocks were seen by Captain Harrison, in the 

 brig Hope, April 17th, 1830, in lat. 40° 16' N., long. 33° W. At 11 a.m. two rocks 

 appeared close under the lee-quarter ; in smooth water these rocks would be even 

 with the surface, and in the hollow of the sea Captain Harrison could distinctly 

 see them 6 or 8 feet down in the water. 



Mr. Keen, of Liverpool, forwarded to us the account of their having been sighted 

 by Capt. Robertson, of the Hxigh Black, in 1862, making it 10 miles farther North 

 than the position first assigned, or lat. 40° 38' N., long. 30° 2' 45" W., the latter 

 determined the day after sighting Flores. He says it would not be seen in smooth 

 water, but with a low swell, it showed a surface of about 10 ft. covered with long 

 rock-weed. 



Mr. E. S. Roberts, of London, also kindly forwarded to us, in 1874, the follow- 

 ing extract from a letter he received from Captain Hugh MacNulty : — " In 1854, 

 I was in command and part owner of the ship Frederick, from Calcutta for 

 Liverpool. In October of that year I was North of Corvo, one of the Azores ; 

 the breeze moderate from E.N.E. I tacked ship to the S.E., and afterwards saw 

 Gough Rocks, and passed within a cable's length of them, in lat. 40° 30' N., and 

 long. 31° 10' W., approximately. They are flat rocks, about 250 ft. long and 250 ft. 

 broad, and 2 ft. above water; they lie about 1 mile apart E.S.E. and W.N.W., true. 

 I find that they are left out of the new Admiralty Charts. They are very dangerous, 

 being so far from land, and so much in the way of shipping." 



Notwithstanding the non-verification of these reports by the sounding lead, 

 which ought to invalidate them, and from the circumstance of the Azores pilots not 

 knowing of them, there appears to be some reason for retaining them. The bottom 

 is not so deep here as elsewhere, for 830 fathoms only was found by the U.S. 

 vessel Dolphin, 20 miles to the North of Gough's, or 10 miles to the North of 

 Captain RoU-srison's position. 



Volcanic Disturbance, Sfc, between Fayal and Flores. — Particulars are given in 

 page 575. 



Ferreira and Constante Reefs. — In October, 1840, the Lisbon authorities 

 announced that : — " Manoel Mariano Ferreira, pilot, while navigating from 

 Paraiba to Lisbon, on board the BrazOian brig Constante, at 10 a.m., August 26th, 

 1840, saw breakers at 1 or 2 miles to windward. The vessel remained in the 

 same position for six hours; at noon, it being then high water, the surf had nearly 

 disappeared; at 2 p.m. it again became perceptible; and at 6 p.m. a group of 

 rocks was clearly visible above the water. By the latitude observed at noon, and 



