380 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



" The best watering place is in Ten-fathom Hole. It is necessary to be cautious of the sharks, 

 which are very numerous in this harbor. It is high water, full and change, at 6 h 8 m ; springs 

 rise 3 feet. The station on the north side of Ten-fathom Hole is in latitude 2 I 7° 5' 35" N., 

 longitude 142° 11' 31", variation 1° 8' E." 



To which Acting Masters Madigan and Bennett, of the United States ships Saratoga and 

 Susquehanna, append the following remarks, viz : 



" The entrance to the harbor of Port Lloyd, on the western side of Peel island, one of the 

 Bonin group, is well defined, so that it can scarcely be mistaken. 



' ' A ship bound in would do well to place a boat on the shoal that makes off south from the 

 eastern point of Square Rock, as it is called on Beechy's harbor chart. This shoal can be easily 

 seen from aloft, however, even when there is no swell on. It extends full two cables length 

 from Square Bock to the southward, and is steep. The centre of the shoal is awash with a 

 smooth sea. The tide rises about three feet, and there is a coral rock about one cable's length 

 north from the northern point of Southern Head, on which were found eight feet water. But a 

 ship entering the harbor would not be likely to approach Southern Head so near as to be upon 

 it. This island, as well as those surrounding it, is visited chiefly by whale ships, and its 

 products, therefore, are such as to suit their wants. 



"Potatoes, yams, and other vegetables, fruits of various kinds, together with wild hogs and 

 goats, can be procured from the few whites and Sandwich Islanders — thirty-five in all — settled 

 there. Wood is good and plentiful, and water can be had, though in limited quantities, and 

 slightly tainted by the coral rocks from which it springs. 



" The anchorage is fair, though open to the south and west. The reconnoissance made by 

 order of the commander-in-chief proved the accuracy of Captain Beechy's chart." 



Mr. Bennett, acting master of the Susquehanna, says in his report: " Assuming the position 

 of Napha, in Great Lew Chew island, as established by Beechy, to be correct, I find by the mean 

 of my chronometers that he has placed Ten-fathom Hole, in Port Lloyd, five miles too far to the 

 westward, and consequently the whole group is placed that much to the westward of its true 

 position." 



BAILEY, OR COFFIN ISLANDS, BEING THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE 



BONIN GROUP. 



A reconnoissance of these islands was made under the direction of Lieutenant Balch, by the 

 officers of the Plymouth. 



Lieutenant Balch, in his report, says : "With the exception of Newport, on the west side of 

 Hillsborough, (formerly known as Fisher's island,) and a small cove just to the northward of it, 

 there is no place on the shores of any of the islands suitable for a coal depot, nor can Newport 

 or the cove be recommended as places suitable for such a purpose. They are both open from 

 southwest to northwest, and the holding ground is not good, being sand and rocks. Vessels 

 could, however, always get to sea on the approach of a gale, as there are tsvo safe passages, and 

 which are very plain. 



Hillsborough (the largest of the group) is seven and a half miles in length, by about one and 

 a quarter in width, the greater part of which is hilly and rocky. Some wild hogs are found 

 upon it ; fish abundant ; turtles plenty, in season. Also, wood and water can be obtained. 

 From May 1 to December, easterly winds prevail ; after that, the westerly winds blow till May 

 with the regularity of a monsoon. 



