6 



CHILI. 



of nautical science was such^ that the most able 

 and vigilant navigator could do little more than 

 guess his place on the globe, and was, therefore, 

 at all times liable to commit the most fatal errors 

 in shaping his course ; while, in consequence of 

 the more extended application of astronomy to na- 

 vigation, the vise of time-keepers, and the great 

 improvement of other nautical instruments, the 

 modern seaman is enabled to traverse the ocean 

 with confidence, and without risk of being misled 

 by currents and other sources of erroneous reck- 

 oning, which perpetually distracted the voyagers 

 of old. 



On the 19th of December we aiftjhored in the 

 Bay of Valparaiso, the principal port on the coast 

 of Chili, having occupied thirty-eight days in the 

 passage from the River Plate. 



After a perilous and protracted voyage, seamen 

 are ready to consider any coast delightful ; and 

 it was probably from such a cause that the early 

 Spanish adventurers named this place the Vale of 

 Paradise, a designation which its present appear- 

 ance by no means justifies. The Bay is of a 

 semicircular form, surrounded by steep hills, 



