224 



SAILING DIRECTIONS. 



[1825. 



the most eligible place on the western coast of South America for 

 whale-ships to stop at for the purpose of coopering their oil and pro- 

 curing refreshments, as the latter can be obtained in barter, and there 

 is very little chance or inducement for any of the crew to leave the 

 vessel. Here also they are exempt from port charges, and a ship may 

 safely ride by one anchor all the year round. On the south-east side 

 of the bay there are extensive salt ponds, of which very little use is 

 made by the inhabitants except in salting their fish. 



There are no dangers in the way of a ship in entering this bay, 

 either from the north or the west. The land at the head of it is very 

 low, and in running for the river the brick church in the town will be 

 seen sooner than the land to the westward of it. Vessels bound hither 

 from the south must first make Aguja, or Needle Point, which appears 

 like a double land, from the westward, and always has a heavy sea 

 breaking upon it ; there are also some sunken rocks lying half a mile 

 to the westward of the point. It is therefore necessary to give it a 

 good berth, particularly at night, as then the wind near the land gene- 

 rally dies away to a calm, and the swell is always heaving in-shore 

 from the westward. Soundings will be found a long way off shore ; 

 and should a ship be becalmed within two miles of the land, she may 

 anchor in twenty fathoms of water, sandy bottom. 



When a vessel is fifteen miles north of Point Aguja, she will be 

 abreast of Cape Nero, which is the southern point of the bay, lying in 

 lat. 5° 44' south, long. 80° 59' west. Between these two points are 

 many sunken rocks running off shore to the distance of a mile and a 

 quarter. After passing Cape Nero, giving it a berth of two miles, the 

 bay of Sechura opens to the view, where there is clear ground and a 

 good shelter from the swell of the sea. The navigator may then haul 

 into the bay, east a little northerly, when he will experience a decrease 

 of water. As he advances up the bay he must steer east and then 

 east-by-south, when he will find the depth of water lessen from sixteen 

 to five, and close in shore to three fathoms, mud and sand bottom. By 

 keeping to the windward of the town the soundings will prove more 

 regular, as the bottom is very uneven abreast of the town and river, 

 where are many sand-spits and shoals, with a westerly swell rolling in 

 over them. But in the weather part of the bay the water is perfectly 

 smooth and shallows gradually in approaching the shore. Should a 

 ship take the ground here, she could receive no damage, and might be 

 easily got off at high-water. 



It is a remarkable fact, and worthy the notice of scientific men, that 

 the whole extent of seacoast on the western side of the American con- 

 tinent presents unequivocal marks of volcanic eruptions, such as pumice- 

 stone and rocks that have once been in a state of fusion, which I have 

 found at the wash of the shores along the whole range of coast. This 

 is the case, also, with respect to the islands in the Pacific and Indian 

 oceans, of which I have never visited one of any dimensions that was 

 not evidently of volcanic origin, or the remains of a volcanic mountain. 

 Each island in the Gallapagos group is of this description, as I am fully 

 convinced by a careful inspection. 



November list. — On Monday, the 21st, we got under way, and ran 



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