7<> 



APPENDIX, No. I. 



too much with the land. If this be accomplished, 

 which a little experience of the periods renders 

 easy, the ship will be near the shore just as the 

 sea-breeze has ended, and there she will remain 

 in the best situation to profit by the land-wind 

 when it comes ; for it not only comes off earlier 

 to a ship near the coast, but is stronger, and may 

 always be taken advantage of to carry the ship off 

 to the sea-breeze station before noon of the next 

 day.* 



These are the best directions for navigating on 

 this coast which I have been able to procure : they 

 are drawn from various sources, and, whenever it 

 was possible, modified by personal experience. I 

 am chiefly indebted to Don Manuel Luzurragui, 

 master-attendant of Guayaquil, for the information 

 they contain. In his opinion, were it required to 

 make a passage from Panama to San Bias, without 

 touching at any intermediate port, the best way 

 would be to stretch well out, pass to the south- 

 ward of Cocos Island, and then run with the 

 southerly winds as far west as 96° before hauling 

 up for San Bias, so as to make a fair wind of the 

 westerly breezes which belong to the coast. An 

 experienced old pilot, however, whom I met at 

 Panama, disapproved of this, and said the best 

 distance was fifteen or twenty leagues all the way. 

 In the winter months these passages are very 

 unpleasant, and it is indispensable that the whole 

 navigation be much further off-shore, excepting 

 only between Acapulco and San Bias, when a 

 distance from ten to twelve leagues will be 

 sufficient. 



The return passages from the West are always 

 much easier. In the period called here the 

 summer, from December to May, a distance of 

 thirty to fifty leagues ensures a fair wind all the 

 way. In winter, it is advisable to keep still 

 farther off, say a hundred leagues, to avoid the 

 calms and incessant rains, squalls, and lightnings, 

 which everywhere prevail on the coast at this 

 season. Don Manuel Luzurragui advises, during 

 winter, that all ports on this coast should be 

 made to the southward and eastward, as the 

 currents in this time of the year set from that 

 quarter. 



If it be required to return direct from San Bias 

 to Lima, a course must be shaped so as to pass 

 between the Island of Cocos and the Galapagos, 

 and to the south-eastward, till the land be made 

 a little to the southward of the equator, between 

 Cape Lorenzo and Cape St. Helena. From thence 

 work along-shore as far as Point Aguja, in latitude 

 6° South, after which, work due South, on the 

 meridian of that point, as far as 1 1 £° South, and 

 then stretch in-shore. If the outer passage were 

 to be attempted from San Bias, it would be neces- 

 sary to run to 25° or 30° South across the trade, 

 which would be a needless waste of distance and 

 time. 



Such genera] observations as the foregoing, on 

 a navigation still imperfectly known, are, perhaps, 

 better calculated to be useful to a stranger than 

 detailed accounts of passages made at particular 

 seasons. For although the success of a passage 

 will principally depend on the navigator's own 

 vigilance in watching for exceptions to the common 



* Seo Dunpier*! account of land and bea breezes, quoted 

 in pegea 8% :m, onto. 



rules, and on his skill and activity in profiting by 

 them, yet he must always be materially aided by a 

 knowledge of the prevalent winds and weather. 

 As many persons, however, attach a certain degree 

 of value to actual observations made on coasts little 

 frequented, although the period in which they may 

 have been made be limited, I have given, in the 

 two following notices, a brief abstract of the Con- 

 way's passages from Panama to Acapulco, and 

 from Acapulco to San Bias. The original notes 

 from whence they are taken are too minute to 

 interest any person not actually proceeding to that 

 quarter of the world. 



NO. XIII. 

 PANAMA TO ACAPULCO. 



5th of February to 7th of March 1822. 

 (30 Days.) 



We sailed from Panama on the 4th of February, 

 and anchored on that afternoon at the island of 

 Taboga, where we filled up our water. Next 

 evening, the 5th, we ran out of the bay with a 

 fresh N.N.W. wind, and at half-past two in the 

 morning of the o'th rounded Point Mala, and hauled 

 to the westward. As the day advanced the breeze 

 slackened and drew to the southward. In twenty- 

 four hours, however, we had run one hundred and 

 forty miles, and were entirely clear of the bight 

 of Panama. It cost us nearly six days more 

 before we came abreast of Cape Blanco de Nicoya ; 

 at first we had light winds from S.S.W., then a 

 moderate breeze from N.N.W., which backed 

 round to the eastward, and was followed by a 

 calm ; during each day we had the wind from 

 almost every point of the compass, but light and 

 uncertain. Between the 11th and 12th, we passed 

 Cape Blanco de Nicoya with a fresh breeze from 

 S.S.E. and then S.S.W., which shifted suddenly to 

 the northward, afterwards to the N.N.E., where it 

 blew fresh for upwards of twenty-four hours, and 

 enabled us to run more than two hundred and 

 thirty miles to the west-north-westward in one 

 day. This breeze, which is known by the name of 

 Papagayo, failed us after passing the Gulf of the 

 same name, and we then came within the influence 

 of adverse currents. On reaching the longitude 

 of 92° West, on the 1 6th we were set S. 16, W. 77 

 miles ; on the 17th, N. 16 miles ; on the 18th, E. 

 51 miles ; on the 19th, S. 78°, E. 63 miles ; on 

 the 20th, S. 62°, E. 45 miles; on the 21st, S. «7°, 

 E. 17^ miles; all of which we experienced between 

 91° and 93° West, at the distance of twenty leagues 

 from the shore, meanwhile we had N.N.E. and 

 northerly winds, and calms. 



After these currents slacked, we made westing 

 as far as 93£°, by help of N.N.E. and easterly 

 winds. On the 22d, 23d, and 24th, we were strug- 

 gling against north-westerly winds off Guatimala 

 between 14° and 15,j° North latitude. This brought 

 us up to the top of the Bay of Tecoantepec at 

 sunset of the 24th, we then tacked and stood to 

 the westward. The weather at this time looked 

 threatening ; the sky was clear overhead, but all 

 round the horizon there hung a fiery and por- 

 tentous haze, and the sun set in great splendour ; 

 presently the breeze freshened, and came to North 

 by West, and before midnight it blew a hard gale 



