52. 



VOYAGE TO 



show the certainty with which navigation is 

 carried on, I must mention that whilst Captain 

 Harcourt pointed with his finger to the spot 

 on the chart at which we had arrived according 

 to nautical calculation, (being the only place at 

 which nine fathoms was marked as the depth 

 of the water) , the man in the chains sung out 

 " by the deep nine." A short time afterwards 

 we were close upon the small island of Lobos, 

 which is covered with seals and sea birds, and 

 we soon anchored for the night at Maldo- 

 nado, close to two French whalers. Here a 

 pilot came on board, with a ruddy fresh- 

 coloured face^ indicating the difference be- 

 tween the climate of the Plata, and that of 

 Rio, where the European race all look pale 

 and sickly. 



The fog almost prevented us from seeing 

 the coast, but I occasionally caught a glimpse 



