596 SCATTEEED EOCKS, SHOALS, AND VIGIAS. 



in so doing I should have added another vigia to those which disfigure the 

 charts of the North Atlantic Ocean." 



A similar instance was forwarded to us by Capt. T. Smith, commanding 

 the Liverpool :—" On June 8th, 1870, at 5.30 p.m., in lat. 40° 48' N., 

 long. 41° 26' W., the chief mate reported an ice-floe on the lee bow ; on 

 going on deck I perceived, about a quarter of a mile to leeward, what 

 appeared to be a mass of ice, with some dark-coloured substance on the 

 centre of it ; but, taking my telescope, I perceived it to be a dead carcase, 

 probably that of a whale, with numerous birds swarming around it. The 

 upper portion, being dry, was probably dark-coloured from exposure to 

 the sun, as the blubber appeared to be off, and the colour dark brown, but 

 all that was awash was perfectly white, with several undetached fragments 

 floating around it, the whole mass heaving and undulating with the swell 

 of the sea, which was washing against it, but not breaking ; the white 

 portion, however, might easily have been mistaken for broken water at a 

 greater distance, and the dark portion for a rock awash. I doubt not but 

 many of the reported dangers mentioned in your valuable ' North Atlantic 

 Memoir,' and other Directories, have no other foundation; the visible 

 portion might be about 40 feet by 20 feet in extent." 



In July, 1870, when in 4° N., 24° W., a captain remarks, in his log : — 

 " Passed through a shoal of Bonitos ; there must have been thousands, and 

 so closely were they packed, that they tore the water into a white sheet of 

 foam. At a distance they might have been mistaken for a reef flush with 

 the water, having an area of about 100 square yards." 



The following, also, at a distance, might deceive. In September, 1864, 

 when in 6° N., 31° W., a captain remarks : — " Some porpoises, cutting 

 extraordinary antics like acrobats." It is probable they were throwing 

 themselves a great height out of the water, and allowing themselves to fall 

 (as it were lifeless) on their sides, making a great splash. At any rate, 

 this is not an uncommon sight, and it is supposed by some that it is their 

 way to rid themselves of parasites. 



In every event, however, it is always the safer course, in matters of this 

 nature, to err rather by marking too many than to^ few, especially when 

 we make known, as we have done, the authority that we rely on for the 

 existence of each. Every one, of course, is free to act according to his 

 own judgment. But on all future announcements of the discovery of rocks 

 or shoals, it is absolutely necessary that they should be tested by the 

 sounding lead and close examination. Without these, they will not be 

 considered as authentic. 



In the first instance we give an account of those shoals which are weU 

 known, and also of those which are not absolutely disproved, though in 

 many cases the question of their existence rests on the most slender 

 grounds, and it is just possible that some may be better authenticated 

 hereafter. 



