GENERAL REMARKS. 



39 



and immediately fixed in some snug nook, where the undula- 

 tion of the sea could not reach. The rise and fall of the tide 

 should be registered every hour, during the stay of the Beagle, 

 as well as the moments (stated whether in apparent or mean 

 time) of high and low water, as nearly as they can be obtained ; 

 and the periods at which the sea and land breezes spring up 

 and fail should likewise be noted, with their effects on the tide, 

 if they can be detected. A boat should be detached, on each 

 tide, to some distance from the island, in order to ascertain the 

 strength and direction of the stream ; and all these operations 

 should be continued, if possible, through a whole lunation. 



" Compiling general and particular instructions, for the 

 navigation of all the places which he may visit, will of course 

 be an essential part of the Commander's duty ; but he will also 

 have innumerable opportunities of collecting a variety of 

 auxiliary information, which, when judiciously combined with 

 the above instructions, of a purely nautical character, will 

 much enhance their utility to all classes of vessels. Such as the 

 general resources on which ships may depend in different 

 places : the chief productions that can be obtained, and the 

 objects most anxiously desired in return : the effect of seasons, 

 of climate, and of peculiar articles of food on the health of the 

 crew, and many others which will readily occur to his mind, 

 and which become of great value to a stranger. 



" On all the subjects touched on in these memoranda. Com- 

 mander Fitz-Roy should be directed to draw up specific reports, 

 and to transmit them from time to time, through their Lord- 

 ship''s Secretary, to the Hydrographic Office, so that if any 

 disaster should happen to the Beagle, the fruits of the expedi- 

 tion may not be altogether lost. Besides such reports, and with 

 the same object in view, he should keep up a detailed corres- 

 pondence by every opportunity with the Hydrographer. 



" The narrative of every voyage in the Pacific Ocean abounds 

 with proofs of the necessity of being unremittingly on guard 

 against the petty treacheries or more daring attacks of the 

 natives. It should be recollected that they are no longer the 

 timid and unarmed creatures of former times, but that many of 



