78 



DANGEROUS 



SERVICE. 



Feb. 1827. 



In his journal Captain Stokes says : 



" Incessant rain and thick clouds prevented my completing, 

 until this day (19th), the observations necessary for making an 

 island, just outside the Harbour of Mercy, the southern end 

 of my base, for the trigonometrical connection of the coasts and 

 islands near the western entrance of this weather-beaten Strait. 



" On the 20th, I weighed and beat to windward, intending 

 to search for anchorage on the north shore, where I might land 

 and fix the northern end of our base line. In the evening we 

 anchored in an archipelago of islands, the real danger of whose 

 vicinity was much increased to the eye by rocks, scattered in 

 every direction, and high breakers, occasioned doubtless by 

 reefs under water. We observed that most of the larger islands 

 have small banks of sand at their eastern sides, on which ancho- 

 rage may be found ; but for ordinary purposes of navigation, 

 this cluster of islands* need only be pointed out to be avoided. 

 The number and contiguity of the rocks, below as well as 

 above water, render it a most hazardous place for any square- 

 rigged vessel : nothing but the particular duty on which I was 

 ordered would have induced me to venture among them. Fore- 

 and-aft vessels might work with far less risk ; and as the rocks 

 are frequented by vast numbers of fur seal, a season or two 

 might be profitably passed here by a sealing vessel so rigged. 



" This morning (21st) I landed on one of the larger islands, 

 with Lieutenant Skyring, and having ascended an eminence 

 (Observation Mount) with the necessary instruments, fixed its 

 position, and made it the northern end of our base. 



It was a beautiful, and clear day ; the Isles of Direction 

 (or Evangelists), as well as every point of importance on the 

 adjacent coast, were seen distinctly during several hours. 



" My next object was to fix the position of Cape Victory, 

 and ascertain whether anchorage could be found in its neigh- 

 bourhood. Accordingly, we weighed early next morning (22d,) 

 and after extricating ourselves from this labyrinth (not without 

 much difficulty and danger), we beat to the westward. Violent 

 squalls, a heavy sea, and thick weather, which came on about 

 * Called the Scilly Isles. 



