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than half a mile from them, and the depth is generally greater. If the day is advanced and the breeze fresh Night Island should not be passed, for the anchorages between it and Piper Islands are much exposed to the sea. A vessel leaving Night Island in the morning will easily reach the Piper Islands or Margaret Bay by night. The anchorage off Night Island is gained by rounding the northern point and anchoring with it due East, distant one mile.

Margaret Bay is West of Cape Grenville. The anchorage East of it is off Sunday Island, in 6 fathoms and well sheltered, with the island S.E.; it is a good place for rendezvous. In rounding Sir Everard Home Islands, pass outside of them, to avoid the current which sets N.W. towards them, across the vessel's course. Having passed these islands the course is N. 52° W, or N. 54° W. for Bird Islands, and from these to v reef, about N. 22° W. (N.N.W.) The best and most direct track to adopt is to pass West of the reefs v and w (although there is a good passage between them), and when abreast of the West point of the latter the course for Cairnercss Island is N. 15° W. for about eighteen miles. In this track the Hannibal Islands will be left to port and the Boydong reefs to starboard.

As there is no good anchorage between Cairncross Island and Cape York it will be better to bring up under this island for the night in 13 or 14 fathoms mud; the island bearing S.E. it must not be approached nearer than half a mile, fer there the bottom is rocky.

Leaving Cairncross Island, steer N. 56° W. (N.W.b.W.) until abreast of Escape River x reef will be seen. Pass East of it on nearly a N. 26° W. course, and leaving Turtle Island to the West, this course will lead East of z reef and afterwards the Albany Islands, which should be passed to port.

The passage through the Possession Islands and Endeavour Strait is not adapted for large ships there being too little water about the Wallis Islands near Shoal Cape. The route by the Prince of Wales Channel round the northern end of Wednesday Island and then Hammond Island is preferable.

Prince of Wales Channel.-The reef a being passed, Wednesday Island will be seen. In making for this island take care not to approach the rocky islands at the entrance of the strait between Wednesday Island and Horned Hill, the N.E. point of Prince of Wales Island, on account of several hidden rocks a quarter of a mile from the shore. then round the northern point of Wednesday Island at half a mile and steer W. 9° or 10° S. to pass North of the rock off Hammond Island. From this steer S. 53° W. and when abreast of the S.W. point of Hammond Island a reef will be approached to the South of the track, and on which several rocks dry. Pass half a mile North of it. In this course the reef d will be avoided, which is generally, if not always, covered, and the depth throughout will be from 6 to 7 fathoms.

When the summit of Goode Island bears S. 30° E., steer W. 7° S. towards Booby Island. This course will clear Larpent Bank, and having passed it the ship will be clear of Torres Strait. Having passed Booby Island, by steering W. S. or W. 9° S. will gradually increase

the depth of the water. Island are several coral termined.

North of these two routes, and West of Booby banks the positions of which are not well de

Satisfied of the superiority of the inner route over those through the Barrier Reefs, which have been generally taken for many years, Captain King says, I wish vessels would but try it, for the trial would end in its adoption.

The season in which Torres Strait is available is from April to October (the S.E. monsoon). The N.W. monsoon is accompanied by uncertain and cloudy weather, with rain and sometimes strong winds, against which it is impossible to make way without a great .loss of

time.

The passage along the N.E. coast of Australia is not subject to monsoons; the S.E. wind, with a little variation, blows on this coast nearly all the year. In the months of June, July, and August, it is sometimes, although not often, replaced by N.E. winds with cloudy and rainy weather; South of Cape Grafton (lat. 16° 51' S.) these changes are less frequent. However the prevailing wind North of Break-SeaSpit is S.E., and there are no difficulties for making a rapid passage. (To be continued.)

SUPPLIES AT FLORES,-Azores.

St. John's Lodge, Aylesbury, October 28th, 1859. Dear Sir, I shall be glad to avail myself of the pages of the Nautical Magazine to make known to the commanders of English ships how very useful the island of Flores may be to homeward bound ships. During a voyage from Madras some years back, we were off Flores in June with 180 invalid soldiers on board. The soup and bouilli procured in India had turned sour, so that they had been some weeks without fresh meat. Fearing that increased sickness might be the result, I decided to see what could be obtained at St. Cruz, on the N.E. part of this island. Land was sighted at daylight with a nice westerly wind blowing, which freshened and became gusty as we rounded the northern part of the island, so much so that I considered it would be well to shorten sail in time; but as we hauled round the N.E. point the sea became smooth and the wind lulled. A boat was alongside in a very short time, and after a few questions from Mr. M'Kay (son of J. M'Kay, Esq., H.M. Vice- Consul,) as to where we were from, &c., he came on board, and executed all my orders quickly and well.

I cannot now remember the whole of the stores received, but the bulk was seven small bullocks, a pig, some sheep, several fowls, a very sweet kind of grass for the bullocks, some onions, potatoes, flour, &c., all of which were on board in a few hours, and the bill was only £29. So pleased was I with the result, that in another voyage with invalids

from Madras, having had much detention in the horse latitudes, we called at this friendly island. This was in August, and we came in round the South side, where, by the bye, there is a patch with only 4 fathoms on it, the only sunken danger in the neighbourhood of the whole island, so far as I could learn. This time the wind being light we had some difficulty in getting near to St. Cruz, so I sent off my chief officer to order what we required. Some passengers took advantage of the opportnnity to set foot on shore again. They returned charmed with the place and people, finding Mr. M'Kay and his family so agreeable, that one gentleman seemed to wish that he had missed the returning boat, and seriously talked of going to settle there.

In the meantime the ship crept up towards the town, which is well marked by a cathedral in a very prominent situation; and very soon my friend Mr. M'Kay appeared with all that we required. This time our wants not being great, we purchased five bullocks, &c., making up altogether a bill of £20. Not only did the fresh meat last us to England, but bumboats came off with cheese, fruit, onions, potatoes, eggs, &c., and these luxuries were to be seen adorning the soldiers' mess tables during the remainder of the passage.

There is anchorage very close in, but this would be waste of time. My last visit was, I think, in 1854; but not having my logs at hand I am not certain. On arriving in England I purchased Capt. Vidal's excellent plan of the islands of Flores and Corvo.

Time rolled on, and circumstances not taking me in sight of it, I had thought but little of Flores until our return home in the end of July of this year, when we fell in with the ship Fitzjames, bound to Liverpool. Her anchor having dragged off the very narrow bank of soundings which faces James Town, St. Helena, she had drifted to sea without procuring the necessary fresh provisions, and hence her crew were suffering sadly from scurvy. She had, moreover, sprung a leak, and the pumps had to be kept going. Fortunately we were able to spare her some fresh provisions, and whilst their boat was alongside, the happy thought came to Mrs. Toynbee that I might advise the captain to touch at Flores. This was done, for we were only two days' sail to the westward of it, and the following extract from Capt. Hamilton's letter to me well explains the result.

"The crew of the Fitzjames were at the time I had the good fortune to speak your ship suffering severely from scurvy, by reason of the want of fresh provisions. Especially do I thank you for the information you gave that fresh provisions were to be procured at the island of Flores, port Santa Cruz, a fact which I was not previously aware of. And it is my belief it is not generally known that at that island supplies can be had in abundance and cheap. The fresh provisions I got there were the means under Providence of restoring the health of my crew, enabling me to bring the ship to England; otherwise, I doubt if I could have brought her into port."

Capt. Hamilton was right as to the ignorance of many commanders of the supplies available at this island, for I have known a ship come into the English Channel whose crew and passengers (of whom many

were great invalids) had been living for days on sugar and rice. And a friend wrote lately to me saying, "I know a case myself of a ship running short off these islands, and the captain was afraid of them."* On these grounds I wrote to Capt. Hamilton for further particulars as to the supplies he obtained and their prices; also, if he could get men to assist his crew in pumping. To which I received the following reply.

"Although men could be had in any quantity to go whaling, (and at any price,) I could get none situated as I was, although I offered to pay any reasonable wages they would ask; and, if necessary, to give a guarantee to provide them with a passage to the United States or Australia."

"I got three bullocks, for which I paid twelve pounds, (we only consumed two on the passage,) we got plenty of excellent potatoes at 3s. per bushel, eggs at 54d. per dozen, fowls at 12s. per dozen, pumpkins at 2s. per dozen, apples, onions, cucumbers, and other vegetables, equally reasonable. I had not even a chain bent while there, and the few hours we remained the weather was beautiful. Mr. M'Kay and family were still there, and inquired much about yourself and the good ship Gloriana. Í received every kindness, assistance, and attention from them. One great object is, you can get everything you require in a very short time, say three or four hours."

I

In another part Capt. Hamilton repeats his thanks for the information, saying, that his crew recovered rapidly when entirely on fresh provisions, and that he had no doubt it was the means of saving some of their lives, "as many of them were very much exhausted, besides ten that were not able to move."

It may be that had Capt. Hamilton promised these men a passage to their own island again, or a lump sum in excess of their wages to help towards their return, he might have obtained their services; and it would be well if Mr. M'Kay would make known through your pages on what terms these men would have served the Fitzjames; though we must allow that a leaky ship full of exhausted men, who were foreigners to them, was no great inducement to them to sell their services at any price.

I consider that Capt. Hamilton was quite justified in touching at St. Cruz with no cables bent, because it was a last resource, and probably he had not physical force on board to bend cables and keep the pumps going; but as a rule I should think it wrong for a ship to go so near land without having an anchor ready, for there is anchorage, though very close in, and a sudden change of wind might endanger the ship and lives of all on board. The prices mentioned by Hamilton will surely suit the most careful of shipowners, and in these times they must be careful, or if their ships don't sink they will soon be sunk by them.

But I should not have done my duty to the inhabitants of this island if I did not call the attention of your readers to the absence of all imposition in their conduct towards this helpless ship and her more

* I know another.-P. D.

helpless crew. The prices charged were no more than what I paid, though Capt. Hamilton must have purchased had they asked three times as much. Again, and more than all this, he received every kindness, assistance, and attention from Mr. M'Kay and his family; so that the master of a ship wanting supplies may calculate on getting them at Flores, and on finding a family ready to give him assistance in any way in their power.

Some will probably think that St. Cruz can only be visited during a westerly wind when it is on the lee side of the island. The wind was West during my visits, and also during Capt. Hamilton's, at any rate it was West with us, who had passed a few hours before his visit. Still, in a moderate East wind it would be quite as available and the ship easier managed, for she would not be so much affected by eddy winds from the land, but might be turned to windward, keeping within a mile or two of the landing-place. But even supposing that the easterly wind is too strong for this; there is the bay of Fanaes on the western side of the island, mentioned at page 153 of the Nautical Magazine for 1842, by Mr. E. May, Master of H.M.S. Skylark, who gives an account of his having touched there. In this he says, "At this place by the assistance of shore boats about four tons of water were obtained in ten hours. The place abounds in poultry, sheep, pigs, vegetables of all kinds, and eggs, all very cheap, and were freely exchanged by the natives for old clothes. Those who came off to the ship were well dressed, clean, healthy people. The shore of the island is bold, and may be approached to the distance of a quarter of a mile. Leaving Fanaes, I would recommend vessels to run due West for two or three miles, to get clear of the high land to the northward of the landing-place, by which they would avoid being becalmed under the land when the wind is from N.E. to S.E., and would be able to run clear of the island."

I believe that at St. Cruz they are much quicker in watering than at Fanaes; for though we did not get any, I asked about it.

Now, as Flores is only a week's sail from the English Channel with a fair wind, ships, by taking account of their remaining stores before passing it, can tell very nearly if they are likely to require anything; but as this part of the sea is liable to several weeks of easterly wind, especially in the spring, why should not a homeward bounder, caught in one of these easterly winds, run back a few miles, and prevent the immense amount of suffering which may take place if the commander endeavour to hang on, in the hopes of meeting with some other ship that will assist him. Of course there are points where a commander must use his own judgment, doing what he considers his duty: but he will be none the worse for knowing that Flores has good provisions and kind hearts to help him if he is hard up. Trusting that your nautical readers may find this island as useful as I have, should they require such assistance,

I remain, &c.,

HENRY TOYNBEE,

Late Commander of the E.I.S. “Gloriana."

To the Editor of the Nautical Magazine.

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