228 



porter's lOURNAl. 



CHAPTER X. 



GALLTPAGOS ISLANDS; DEPARTURE FOR WASHINGTON 

 ISLANDS. 



On the 24tb, I stretched in toward the cove, to meet the 

 boats which I expected off with the crews of the Seringa- 

 patam and New-Zealander, and at one o'clock discovered 

 them on a sand beach on Narborough, where they had 

 landed to await our coming in. About an hour afterw^ards 

 they came on board, with twenty-one men from the two 

 ships. We had now got to the entrance of the passage be- 

 tween Narborough and Albemarle. A steady breeze from 

 the northwest, and a current setting from the same quarter, 

 as well as a desire of looking into the cove, to see in what 

 order the prizes had been secured, altogether tempted me 

 to endeavour to go through the passage, hi this I could 

 perceive no danger whatever, nor had I ever heard of the 

 existence of any, except what arose from the violence of 

 the current, and a reef off the southeast part of Narbo- 

 rough. Accordingly, all sail was made ; but, contrary to 

 my expectations, the wind died away at sunset, and shifted 

 ahead, leaving us nearly becalmed until after dark, when a 

 brisk breeze sprang up from the southwest, with which, 

 after great anxiety and uneasiness on my part, we succeed- 

 ed in beating through. But this anxiety was unnecessary, 

 as the passage is as safe as any other that is liable to sud- 

 den shifts of wind and rapid currents. Soundings were ob- 

 tained in mid-channel with eighty fathoms of line, coarse 

 gravelly bottom. There appears no danger in lying any 

 distance from the shores of either side, with the exception 

 of the aforesaid reef, which we got sight of before night, 

 and which does not extend more than a mile and a half 

 from the shore. On the beaches of the Albemarle side, we 

 saw vast numbers of turtle, and seals kept playing around 

 us during the whole passage, which may properly be called 

 a sound. 



I had here an opportunity of seeing in what manner the 



