236 report— 1879. 



port, with, however, some unexamined shoal ground on the western side 

 of the entrance. 



Pushing onward to Rio, we are still on the dark line, but on leaving 

 that beautiful harbour we enter a partially surveyed region until we 

 come to the River Plate, of which a survey is much required. 



During the voyage to Cape Virgins we have time to pay a respectful 

 tribute to the memory of Admiral Robert FitzRoy, who with limited 

 means, and in a marvellously short time, mapped the coast of South 

 America from the River Plate in the Atlantic to the Guayaquil in the 

 Pacific. Sir Francis Beaufort reported to the House of Commons, in 

 1848, that ' all that is immediately wanted of these shores has been 

 already achieved by the splendid survey of Captain Robert FitzRoy.' 

 That, however, was before the days of steamships 375 feet long, and 

 before the Strait of Magellan was the high road to the Pacific Ocean. 



Entering the Strait of Magellan, our charts carry us safely on for 

 110 miles, when we again come to partially surveyed ground. 



We should like to continue our voyage by the inner channels leading 

 northward from Magellan, but as there are orders from the owners 

 against using these partially surveyed waters, we are reluctantly forced 

 into the Pacific (an ocean by no means worthy of its name in the vicinity 

 of Cape Pillar) with a loss of fuel and comfort, and much wear and tear 

 of ship and engines. The rapidly increasing traffic of large and powerful 

 steamers between Europe and the western coasts of America, points to the 

 urgent necessity for a thorough survey of Magellan Strait, and the 

 channels leading northward to the Gulf of Pefias. 



Pursuing our way along the coast of Chili, whose increasing trade 

 with this country would be much benefited by better charts, we touch at 

 Valparaiso, Callao, and Payta ; but we cannot place reliance on our charts 

 until we reach the River Guayaquil. The sight of this coast reminds us 

 how the Independencia, pounding along with vicious intent to ram and 

 utterly annihilate the Covadonga, suddenly found herself on the reef which 

 her clever opponent avoided, and so lost the day and herself too. It was 

 pilotage and cool nerve, not gunnery, that enabled the little wooden ship 

 to cause the destruction of Peru's finest and most powerful ironclad, and 

 the moral is that though ships and guns may be brought to perfection, 

 yet they will avail nothing without skilled pilots and trustworthy 

 charts. 



From Guayaquil to Panama we are on the dark line, therefore, venturing 

 nearer to the shore, we can coast along one of the most beautiful and 

 interesting parts of the globe, passing La Plata island, where Drake 

 divided the spoils of the Cacafuego. ' In sea-divinity,' it has been 

 quaintly said, ' the case was clear, the King of Spain's subjects had 

 undone Mr. Drake, and therefore Mr. Drake was entitled to take the best 

 satisfaction he could on the subjects of the King of Spain.' We also pass 

 Gallo island, where Pizarro drew the famous line on the sand, over which 

 (as we are told by Mr. Markham in his ' Reports on the Discovery of 

 Peru ') sixteen of his followers crossed. 



Entering the Bay of Panama, we pass the beautiful Pearl Islands, 

 which have been well described as a perfumed archipelago, lying like 

 baskets of flowers on the tranquil surface of the ocean. To the eastward 

 lies the Gulf of San Miguel, where Balboa, after a journey of twenty-five 

 days across swamps, rivers, and woods, took possession of the Pacific 

 Ocean in the name of the King of Spain and the Indies. A branch of 



