100 



TOSCA BLANCO BAY. 



Sept. 



Finding this to be the case, I had a stout hawser ' bent' to the 

 ^ crown' of the anchor, and after shortening in cable, tripped 

 the anchor by the hawser, and then weighed it, uninjured, 

 without much difficulty. 



Along this extent of sea-coast, half way between the cur- 

 rents in the vicinity of the Plata, and those occasioned by strong 

 tides near Blanco Bay and the river Negro, we found no cur- 

 rent. AVhether there was a rise of tide it was not easy to ascer- 

 tain by the lead-line, when at anchor, from the bottom being 

 so uneven ; and to land was impossible, on account of a furious 

 surf. 



Several kinds of fish were caught at our temporary anchor- 

 ages, and noticed carefully by Mr. Darwin. Anchorage is not 

 a word I should use in this case (where the anchor was only let 

 go for a short time while the ship's position could be fixed 

 with accuracy, and our triangulation carried on in a satisfactory 

 manner), as it might deceive a stranger to the coast : stopping- 

 place would be better. 



While examining the positions nearest to Blanco Bay, we 

 had occasional alarms — such as the wind shifting and blowing 

 strong directly towards the land ; our soundings shoaling sud- 

 denly to three, or less than three fathoms ; or thick weather 

 coming on while a boat was away sounding; — but these are 

 every-day events in a surveying vessel actively employed. 



Near Blanco Bay we found the water greatly discoloured, 

 and the soundings were not such as to tempt us onwards; how- 

 ever, it was necessary to proceed. We steered towards a little 

 hill, which I fancied must be Mount Hermoso,* and soon 

 after sun-set, on the 5th, anchored in what we afterwards found 

 to be the roadstead near that hillock, at the head of Blanco 

 Bay, close to the entrance of Port Belgrano, but divided from 

 it by a bank. 



As the bad apologies for charts of this place, which we pos- 

 sessed at our first visit, left us as much at a loss as if we had 



* Mount Hermoso is but 140 feet above the sea ; yet, on this low coast, 

 it is somewhat remarkable, as being the only peaked hill close to the 

 water ; and having- under it a low cliffy point, the only one thereabouts. 



