34 



MEMORANDUM. 



minutiae of whatever knowledge has been acquired, will be 

 documents of far greater value in this office, to be reduced or 

 referred to, than highly finished plans, where accuracy is often 

 sacrificed to beauty. 



" This applies particularly to the hills, which in general cost 

 so much labour, and are so often put in from fancy or from 

 memory after the lapse of months, if not of years, instead of 

 being projected while fresh in the mind, or while any incon- 

 sistencies or errors may be rectified on the spot. A few strokes 

 of a pen will denote the extent and direction of the several 

 slopes much more distinctly than the brush, and if not worked 

 up to make a picture, will really cost as little or less time. The 

 in-shore sides of the hills, which cannot be seen from any of 

 the stations, must always be mere guess-work, and should not 

 be shown at all. 



" It should be considered an essential branch of a nautical 

 survey, to give the perpendicular height of all remarkable hills 

 and headlands. It requires but a single angle at each station, 

 adds much to our geographical knowledge, materially assists 

 the draftsman, and by tables which are now printing it will 

 afford to the seaman a ready and exact means of knowing his 

 distance. 



" All charts and plans should be accompanied by views of the 

 land ; those which are to be attached to the former should be 

 taken at such a distance as will enable a stranger to recognize 

 the land, or to steer for a certain point ; and those best suited 

 for the plan of a port should show the marks for avoiding 

 dangers, for taking a leading course, or choosing an advanta- 

 geous berth. In all cases the angular distances and the angular 

 altitudes of the principal objects should be inserted in degrees 

 and minutes on each of the views, by which means they can be 

 projected by scale, so as to correct any want of precision in the 

 eye of the draftsman. Such views cannot be too numerous; 

 they cost but a few moments, and are extremely satisfactory to 

 all navigators. 



" Trifling as it may appear, the love of giving a multiplicity 

 of new and unmeaning names tends to confuse our geogra- 



