642 
APPENDIX. 
inconvenience which a shift of wind to the E. would occasion, there is another arising from a 
strong current, which generally sets out of the Gulf of California. From the Cape steer 
for Isabella Island, and thence for Piedra de Mer. 
Between 33° N. and Cape San Lucas we found a current to the westward, and from 
the Cape to the Tres Marias to the southward. The whole effect of current from San 
Francisco to these islands was S. 58° W. eighty miles. 
SAN BLAS TO ACAPULCO AND VALPARAISO. 
March 8ik to May Irf, 1828. 
At this season north-westerly winds prevail upon the coast between San Bias and 
Acapulco, inclining toward the land in the day, and to the sea in the night. We passed four 
miles to the westward of Corvetena (a small rock, situated N. W. by N. nineteen miles from 
Cape Corrientes) without having soundings in eighty fathoms. On the 10th we were 
within sight of the volcano of Colima, 12,003 feet above the sea, and on the 13th anchored 
at Acapulco. 
At San Bias we heard various opinions upon the best route from Acapulco to Valparaiso, 
some being in favour of a passage to the eastward of the Gallapagos, by keeping along the 
land, and carrying the N. W. wind, and others to the westward, by steering at once out 
to sea. We adopted the latter mode of proceeding ; and after light and variable winds, prin- 
cipally from the eastward, crossed the equator in 99° 40' W., on the eleventh day of our 
passage, about two degrees more to the westward than was intended. 
After two days’ unsettled weather and hard showers of rain, we got the S. E. trade in 
3° S. latitude. It at first held to the southward, but, as we proceeded, veered gradually to 
the eastward, and obliged us to make a long sweep, in which we went as far to the westward 
as 108°, and having brought us into 23° S. and 106° W. it left us. We had afterwards variable 
winds and squally weather, and found some difficulty in approaching our destination. At this 
season very unsettled weather prevails on the coast of Chili, and storms and heavy rains 
from the northward are by no means unfrequent. It appears to me to be advisable at this 
period to steer direct for the port, if possible, and to disregard the chances of udnds and of 
currents near the land. The currents in the first part of this passage ran about seven miles 
a day to the eastward, but from 8° N. and 98° W. to 19° S. and 108° W. they flowed in a 
S. 88° W. direction, at the average rate of about twenty-eight miles per day, and on our 
arrival at Valparaiso they had drifted the ship S. 81° W., four hundred and one miles, or 
at the average rate of eleven and a half miles a day. 
On account of these strong currents it is desirable to cross the equator well to the 
eastward, in about 96° or 97° W., and to pass the latitudes in which they prevail as quickly 
as possible, by keeping clean full. 
RIO JANEIRO TO ENGLAND. 
August bill to September 2bih. 
This passage was remarkable for strong S. W. winds between the trades. Upon leaving 
Rio, N. E. winds obliged us to stand to the S. E. to the lat. 27° S. and long. 36° W., where we 
