32 



MEMORANDUM. 



are very imperfectly laid down. Indeed of the whole of this 

 coast, the only general knowledge we have is from the Spanish 

 charts, which seem., with the exception of certain ports, to 

 have been merely the result of a running view of the shore. 

 Of this kind of half-knowledge we have had too much : the 

 present state of science, which affords such ample means, seems 

 to demand that whatever is now done should be finally done ; 

 and that coasts, which are constantly visited by Englisli ves- 

 sels, should no longer have the motley appearance of alternate 

 error and accuracy. If, therefore, the local Governments make 

 no objections, the survey should be continued to Coquimbo, 

 and indefinitely to the northward, till that period arrives when 

 the Commander must determine on quitting the shores of South 

 America altogether. That period will depend on the time that 

 has been already consumed, and on the previous management 

 of his resources, reserving sufficient to ensure his obtaining a 

 series of well-selected meridian distances in traversing the Pacific 

 Ocean. 



" The track he should pursue in executing this important 

 duty cannot well be prescribed here, without foreseeing to 

 what part of the coast he may have pushed the survey, and 

 at what place he may find it convenient to take in his last 

 supplies. If he should reach Guayaquil, or even Callao, it 

 would be desirable he should run for the Galapagos, and, if 

 the season permits, survey that knot of islands. Felix Island, 

 the London bank seen by the brig Cannon, in 1827, in 27° 6' 

 S. 92° 16' W., even with the water''s edge, and half a mile in 

 length ; some coral islands, supposed to be 5° or 6° south of 

 Pitcairn Island, and other spots, which have crept into the 

 charts on doubtful authority, would all be useful objects of 

 research if the Beagle's route should fall in their vicinity. But 

 whatever route may be adopted, it should conduct her to 

 Tahiti, in order to verify the chronometers at Point Venus, a 

 point which may be considered as indisputably fixed by Cap- 

 tain Cook's and by many concurrent observations. Except in 

 this case, she ought to avoid as much as possible the ground 

 examined by Captain Beechey. 



