40 



LAND AND SEA-BREEZES. 



Sometimes it came off in the first watch, but rarely 

 before midnight, and often not till the morning, and 

 was then generally light and uncertain. The prin- 

 cipal point to be attended to in this navigation is, 

 to have the ship so placed at the setting in of the 

 sea-breeze, that she shall be able to make use of the 

 whole of it on the larboard tack, before closing too 

 much with the land. If this be accomplished, 

 which a little experience of the periods renders 

 easy, the ship will be near the shore just as the 

 sea-breeze has ended, and there she will remain in 

 the best situation to profit by the land-wind when 

 it comes ; for it not only comes off earlier to a ship 

 near the coast, but is stronger, and may always be 

 taken advantage of to carry the ship off to the sea- 

 breeze station before noon of the next day. 



These are the best directions for navigating on this 

 coast which I have been able to procure : they are 

 drawn from various sources, and, whenever it was 

 possible, modified by personal experience. 1 am 

 chiefly indebted to Don Manuel Luzurragui, master 

 attendant of Guayaquil, for the information they 

 contain. In his opinion, were it required to make a 

 passage from Panama to San Bias, without touching 

 at any intermediate port, the best way would be to 



