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of this locality, it tends only to confirm our previous convictions, and we have 
more abundant reasons than ever to impress on the mariner the propriety 
of sighting the Horn and the Falkland Islands on his homeward passage. 
He has every inducement to follow this track. It is favorable for making 
a short passage, and it will keep the ship clear from the only locality* 
adjacent either to the passage out or home, in which real danger exists 
on account of the ice. I think great sacrifices should be made to follow 
this part of the route home rigidly, for I have not met with any very 
extraordinary voyage home made by a ship that has given to the Horn or the 
Falkland Islands a wide berth. In all cases in which no danger has been 
experienced from ice, delays have been occasioned and the passage has 
been spoiled, nor have I a case on record in which any mariner, following 
this advice, has met with ice after arriving east of the meridian of 75° W. 
And lastly. In all ships adopting the composite route to or from 
Australia, a good look out should be kept, and the changes of the ther- 
mometer should be carefully observed. Captain McDonald of the “ James 
Baines” met with a considerable number of icebergs in his late extraordinary 
passages, but he observes that these stray icebergs do not considerably 
increase the risk with a prudent and careful captain. He has only to 
notice his thermometer to be forewarned of the approaching danger. In 
one case he found that the thermometer fell 4° as he approached the ice, 
and 2° more as he got to leeward of the berg. Captain Newland, in the 
log of the “ Champion of the Seas,” proves also that the thermometer not 
only indicates the approach towards ice, but also the amount of ice we 
may expect to meet with. In latitude 58° 30' S. he passed two icebergs, 
the temperature of the water being 44° and that of the air 42°. Between 
50° S. and 47° S. he passed thirty-nine icebergs, the thermometer then 
fell to 35° in water and 36° in air. In this instance the temperature was 
8° or 9° lower, although the ship had sailed about 10° nearer to the 
equator, at which point the mean temperature is 10° higher. In one case 
however, it is reported that the temperature of neither the air nor water 
was sensibly affected when an iceberg was approached. It is probable 
that in this instance some meteorological change might have counter- 
balanced the effect of the proximity of ice. But, if otherwise, this single 
exception cannot prove that the thermometer may be neglected, but rather 
enforces the necessity of keeping a most careful look out at all times. 
