Strait* of Slnpivnrv. 



SOllLUO. 



Jt» iinlnn nf tlie mjnndron. 



fruUe ol Ihc \'vr]M*c and Oregon. 



The difficulties hi the Palawan Passage arising 

 finni heavy seas and fresh gales do not exist in the 

 Sooloo St'ft, m>r ari' the shoals so numerous or hi 

 dangerous. In the place of storms and rough water, 

 smooth seas are found, and for most of tin* time 

 moderate bre. /<■*., which do not subject a vessel to 

 the wear and tear experienced in beating up against 

 a monsoon. 



Tlx- ^u-nits* of Balabac may be easily reached, 

 i iUtcr from Singapore, or by heating up* along the 

 western shore of Borneo, When the straits are 

 reached, a vessel by choosing her time may easily 

 puss through thein by daylight, even hy heating 

 when the wind in ahead. Once through, the way is 

 eiear, with the exception <d a few rural lumps; the 

 - ceuHiona! occurrence of the north wind will enable 

 ;i vessel to pans directly to the shores of the inland 

 <.f Panay, A fair wind will ordinarily prevail along 

 that is tuni], ami, up I have already mentioned, it 

 may he approached closely. The passage through 

 to the eastward of Mindoro Island may he taken in 

 preference to that on the west side through the 

 Mindoro Strait, and thus all the reefs and shoals 

 will he avoided. Thence, the western coast of 

 Luzon will be followed to the north, us in the old 

 route. 



1 do not think it necessary to point out any par- 

 ticular route through the S.xiloo Sea, as vokwIs 

 must he guided chiefly as the winds blow, but 1 

 would generally avoid approaching the Snoloo 

 Islands, as the currents am more rapid, nod set 

 i-ithcr to the southward. Wh.rever there is an- 

 chorage, it would he advisable to anchor at night, 

 as much time might t hus he saved, and a knowledge 

 of the currents or seta of the tides obtained. Per- 

 haps it would be as well to caution those who are 

 venturesome, that it is necessary to keep a good 

 look-nut, and those who are timid, that there does 

 not appear to be much danger from the piratical 

 prahus, unless a vessel gets on shore : in that case 

 it will not he long before they will be seen collect- 

 ing in the horizon in large numbers. To conclude, 

 I am satisfied that under ordinary circumstances, 

 to pass through the Sooloo Sea will shorten by 

 s-.verat days ihc passage to Manilla or Canton, and 

 l-e a groat saving of ex)>ense in the wear and tear 

 of a ship and her canvass. 



On (lie 1 3th, we passed near the location of the 

 Viper Shoal, but saw nothing of it. It is, there- 

 fore, marked doubtful on the cluirL As I had but 

 little time to spare, the look-outs were doubled, and 

 we pursued our course throughout the night, sound, 

 iug as wc weut every fifteen minutes; but nothing 

 met our view. 



On the 18th, wc made Pub Aor and Puto Pe- 

 dang, and arriving elf ihe Straits of Singapore I 

 hove-to, to await daylight. In the morning at dawn, 

 we found ourselves in close company with a Chi- 

 nese junk. The UJth, until late iu the afternoon, 

 we were in the Singapore Straits, making but .slow 

 progress towards this emporium of the east. The 

 number of native as well as foreign vessels which 



we passed, proved that we were approaching some 

 great marl, and at "? imi. we dropped ntir anchor in 

 Singapore RoniK Ibro wc f.nuul the Porpoise, 

 On got i, and plying- Fish, all well: the I wo former 

 had arrived on tin- 22nd of January, nearly a month 

 before, and the latter three days previously. IS. I'm-.- 

 concluding this chapter, I shall revert to their pro- 

 ceedings since out* separation olf the Sandwich 

 Islands. 



The instructions to the brigs have been hereto- 

 fore given; hut it may not be amiss to repeal here 

 that ihe object iu detaching ihein was, that llu-v 

 might explore the line of reefs ami islands known 

 to exist to the northward and westward of the 

 Hawaiian (I roup, and thence continue iheir course 

 towards the coast of Japan. Had they effected 

 the latter object, it would have given imporiaut re- 

 sults in relation to the force of the currents, and 

 the temperature of the water. It was desirable, if 

 possible, to ascertain with certainty the existence 

 on the coast of Japan of a current similar to ihe 

 <inlf Stream, to which my attention had been par- 

 ticularly drawn. 



The first land they made was on ihe 1st of lie- 

 ccinber, 1841, and was Necker Island. Minis, es- 

 pecially tlie white tern, had been seen in numbers 

 prior to its announcement. Necker Island is 

 apparently a mn*s of volcanic rocks, about three 

 hundred feet high, and is destitute of any kind of 

 vegetation, but covered with guano. It is sur- 

 rounded by a reef, three miles from ahicli sound- 

 ings were obtained, in twenty fathoms water. The 

 furious surf lhat was beating on all sides i f tho 

 island, precluded all possibility of a landing heing 

 made. Hy the connected observations of the ves- 

 sels, it lies in longitude H>4 J 37' W., and lalitudc 

 23° 44' N, 



The French- Frigate Shoal was seen on the 3rd; 

 the weather proved bad, ami they were unable to 

 execute the work of examining tins. reef. The sea 

 was breaking furiously upon it. 



On the 7th, the Maro Reef was made iu latitude 

 25* 24' 2U" N., longitude 17<» 4tf 24" W. Bottom 

 was found at a distance of four miles from the reef, 

 with forty-five fathoms of line. On the 8th, they 

 passed over the she of Neva Isle, as laid down 

 by AiTowsuiith, but no indications of land m 

 seen. 



On tlie 11th, Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold 

 determined, on account of the condition of the brigs, 

 and the continuance of bud weather, it was impos- 

 sible to keep their course to the northward and 

 westward towards the coast of Japan: he therefore 

 hauled to the southward, which was much to be 

 regretted, and followed so very nearly in the same 

 track as that pursued by the Yinceiiues, towards 

 the China seas, that nothing new was elicited by 

 them. 



After a passage of fifty-six days from ihe 

 Sandwich Islands, ihey dropped tin ir am-lnr* in 

 Singapore on the 19th of January, 1842, all well. 



7. 



