PLAN OF VOYAGE. 



29 



veyed, including the outer edge of the extensive shoals that 

 project from its northern extreme, and setting at rest the 

 question of the Sebastian Channel. 



" On the southern side of this great collection of islands, 

 the Beagle Channel and Whale-boat Sound should be finished, 

 and any other places which the Commander^s local knowledge 

 may point out as being requisite to complete his former survey, 

 and sufficiently interesting in themselves to warrant the time 

 they will cost ; such as some apparently useful ports to the 

 westward of Cape False, and the north side of Wakefield 

 Channel, all of which are said to be frequented by the sealers. 



" In the north-western part it is possible that other breaks 

 may be found interrupting the continuity of S*^* Ines Island, 

 and communicating from the Southern Ocean v/ith the Strait ; 

 these should be fully or cursorily examined, according to their 

 appearance and promise ; and though it would be a very useless 

 waste of time to pursue in detail the infinite number of bays;^ 

 openings, and roads, that teem on the western side of that 

 island, yet no good harbour should be omitted. It cannot 

 be repeated too often that the more inhospitable the region, the 

 more valuable is a known port of refuge. 



" In the western division of the Strait, from Cape Pillar 

 to Cape Fro ward, there are a few openings which may perhaps 

 be further explored, on the chance of their leading out to sea ; 

 a few positions which may require to be reviewed ; and a few 

 ports which were only slightly looked into during Captain 

 King's laborious and excellent survey, and which may now be 

 completed, if likely to augment the resources of ships occupied 

 in those dreary regions. 



" In the eastern division of the Strait there is rather more 

 work to be done, as the Fuegian shore from Admiralty Sound 

 to Cape Orange has not been touched. Along with this part 

 of the service, the Islands of Saints Martha and Magdalena, 

 and the channel to the eastward of Ehzabeth Island, will come 

 in for examination ; and there is no part of the Strait which 

 requires to be more accurately laid down and distinctly de- 

 scribed, from the narrowness of the channels and the trans- 



