1841. The same arrangement, except that circumstances requiring the immediate survey of Portsmouth and Spithead, the Cornwall party was removed to that duty in the Sylvia cutter; and that abroad, H.M.S. Sulphur and Starling quitted South America, and were employed in surveying the waters of China, and in co-operating with our squadron there.

1842.-To the above surveys the important investigation of the Barrier Reefs of Australia and Torres Strait, was this year added in the Fly and Bramble; the Philomel was sent to examine the harbours of the Falkland Islands, and a survey of the Azores was commenced by the Styr steamer; the Sulphur and Starling quitted the survey of the coast of China, but leaving the Plover and Royalist to continue that work. At home, the Shearwater steam-vessel was appointed to the North Sea survey in the place of the Fairy (unhappily lost at the close of 1841), and the Rocket steam vessel was substituted for the Sylvia at Portsmouth and Spithead.

1843.-The Rocket was replaced by the Fearless steamer; the Shearwater steamer was sent to the West of Scotland survey, and the Blazer steamer to the North Sea, instead of the Shearwater. The survey of the coast of Lancashire and Cumberland was commenced in hired boats. Abroad, the survey of the dangerous Gulf of Fundy was commenced by the Columbia steamer, and the Beagle returned from her survey of Bass Strait, and of the coast of Australia,

1844.-At home, the south and western coasts of Ireland were so little known that an additional survey was commenced in Galway Bay by means of hired boats, and the Shannon party, having finished that work, was directed to make a complete survey of Cork Harbour, in the Tartarus steam-vessel, which was replaced in the Thames by the Porcupine. The Firefly was put on the soundings of the Irish Channel, of which there was no accurate chart; the Lucifer, steamer, was appropriated to the continuation of the east coast of Ireland survey, and the Sparrow ketch was given, in lieu of hired boats, for the survey of the north coast of Scotland. Abroad, with the close of the year, the survey of the Azores and the Madeiras terminated.

1845.-Her Majesty's ship Herald and Pandora were despatched to the Pacific to continue the survey of the west coast of America from the point where that of the Sulphur and Starling broke off, and the Avon steamer proceeded to the Bight of Benin for a like purpose. At home, the Dasher was substituted for the Fearless in the Portsmouth survey, and the Tartarus was taken from the south coast of Ireland survey, which was continued by means of hired boats.

1846 -The survey of the Isle of Man succeeded that of the coast of Lancashire by means of hired boats; and the great interior lakes of Corrib and Mask in Ireland were undertaken. Abroad, the Fly returned from the survey of the Barrier Reefs of Australia, leaving the survey to be continued in her Majesty's ship Bramble and a hired vessel. The Philomel having finished the survey of the Falklands, joined the squadron in the river Plata. The Avon also returned from Africa, having completed the work assigned to her; and also the Plover from China, leaving the Royalist to carry on the remaining operations.

1847 -Abroad, the Rattlesnake was sent to prosecute the survey of Torres Strait, in continuation of the work begun by the Fly; and at the close of the year the Columbia was ordered home from the Bay of Fundy, and paid off. Her Majesty's steam-vessel Acheron was commissioned to survey the coasts and har bours of Newfoundland. At home, in the spring of the year, the Avon steamer was established for the Sparrow on the coast of Scotland, the survey of which had advanced to Cape Wrath; and in the autumn the Blazer, Dasher, Firefly, Lucifer, Porcupine, and Shearwater, with a new set of officers, were employed in relieving the famine on the western shores of Ireland and Scotland; the several surveys in which they have been respectively occupied being ordered to be continued in hired boats.

The portions of the United Kingdom of which the surveys, charts, and sailing directions may be considered defective, are as follows:-"1. The greater part of the south coast of England is very roughly laid down, and with none of that accurate detail which is absolutely necessary in considering

the value of the numberless projects that are brought before the Admiralty -2. The charts of the western coast of Scotland, from the Mull of Cantire nearly to Cape Wrath, and all the Hebrides, are in a most disgraceful state, not only in that hydrographic minuteness requisite for the actual safety of its navigation, but in geographic positions, many of which are several miles out, even in latitude.-3. Two large intervals of the western coast of Ireland have never been surveyed, and the charts are merely eye sketches.-4, The south-eastern coast of Ireland, between Waterford and Cork, is nearly in the same state. 5. A full investigation of the tidal streams of the English Channel is likewise a desideratum of very great importance to the navigator of those seas, and ought to be at once undertaken.

These several objects might probably, be accomplished with the requisite precision in ten years, by the seven small steam-vessels that have been lately employed on this service, assisted by the four boating parties, and averaging altogether about 550 men and officers.

The foreign surveys that are requisite in order to ensure correct eharts and sailing directions would include a very large portion of every sea-coast on the globe, and could scarcely be enumerated here in any reasonable space; but those most urgently necessary to be taken up by this country may be thus stated:

1. The Eastern Islands of the Mediterranean, along with the coasts of Syria and Egypt, and as much of the northern shore of Africa as would meet the French survey which, having commenced with Algiers and Morocco, will very probably be continued along Eastern Barbary and Tunis.

2. From the Strait of Gibraltar the western coast of Africa has been sufficiently surveyed and published, as far as Cape Formosa in the Bight of Benin; but as there is much legitimate traffic in the eastern part of that great Bight, as well as further to the southward, both it and many of the ports and anchorages on this side of the Cape of Cood Hope require a more careful and connected examination.

3. The charts of the whole of the Cape Colony are exceedingly defective, as the numerous wrecks there amply testify, and from thence to the Portuguese settlements of Delagoa we know scarcely anything.

4. From Delagoa to the Red Sea and the whole contour of Madagascar are sufficiently represented on our charts for the general purposes of navigation, though many further researches along the former coast might still be profitably made.

5. The Red Sea, part of the coast of Arabia, the Gulf of Persia, and many detached portions of the East Indies, have been already executed by the Company's officers, and no doubt it is intended that the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel shall soon be undertaken by the same hands. The long Malay peninsula and the Strait of Malacca will require much time and skill to complete and to combine with each other those parts that have been surveyed.

6. With the China Sea we are daily becoming better acquainted, but much is still to be done there; for probably not one of the multitude of rocks and shoals with which it is almost covered is put exactly in its right position; and while some are repeated two or three times, others have been omitted. A sea, therefore, which is traversed by so many large and valuable vessels, and so replete with dangers, ought to be early and efficiently undertaken.

7. On the coast of China the charts are excellent, from Canton round to the mouth of the great river Yang-tse-Kiang; but of the Yellow Sea we know very little, and still less of the Corea, Japan, and the coast of Tartary, and up to the confines of the Russian empire.

8. The southern passages in the China Seas have never been examined with the care they deserve; and all that is known of what are called the Eastern Passages through the Great Malay Archipelago, are only the results of the casual observations and sketches made years ago by industrious seamen.

9. The islands and surrounding shores of the Arafura Sea, if better known, would offer many ports of refuge, and probably an increased opening to commercial enterprise.

10. The Strait of Torres has been satisfactorily surveyed, but before it becomes the great highway for steam vessels to and from Sydney, its approaches and also its contiguous coasts of New Guinea should be more intimately known.

11. The whole circuit of the great island of Australia has been well explored, and the general characteristics of its several shores are sufficiently known for all general purposes; but far more minute surveys of its immediate waters and maritime resources must precede their being inhabited, beginning with the Eastern coast, along which the tide of colonization seems to be already creeping.

12. The shores of Tasmania, in like manner, are but very roughly laid down, and even to this day there is no chart of the harbour and entrance to Hobart Town, its capital and principal seat of trade.

13. A full survey of New Zealand has just been commenced, and will no doubt answer all the wants of both the settler and the navigator.

14. In advancing to the eastward across the Pacific Ocean there are many groups of islands with which our merchant vessels have occasional traffic, or in which the whaling vessels refit, and which, ought therefore, to be more efficiently examined and charts charted for their benefit.

15. On the opposite side of the Pacific some progress has been made in surveying the coast between the Russian territory and the Strait of Juan del Fuca; but with the long interval between the Oregon district and the entrance of the Gulf of California we are very superficially acquainted, and but little is known of the interior of that extensive gulf. In the present state of those countries it does not appear necessary to push our survey into their inner waters; but there can be no doubt that the coast of Mexico, Guatemala, and New Granada, which contain many valuable harbours and innumerable trading ports, ought to be minutely and connectedly surveyed.

16. From the Equator to Cape Horn, and from thence round to the River Plata on the eastern side of America, all that is immediately wanted has been already achieved by the splendid survey of Capt. Fitzroy.

17. Some parts of the great empire of Brazil we owe to the labours of the Baron de Roussin and of other French officers, but there is much yet to be done on that coast between the Plata and the Amazon rivers, and again along Guayana and Venezuela up to the mouth of the Orinoco.

18. The shores of the main land between Trinidad Island and the Gulf of Mexico have been charted and published by the Admiralty; but many of the West India islands are still wanting to complete a wholesome knowledge of those seas.

19. The United States are carrying on an elaborate survey of their own coasts, and to the northward of them, a part of the Bay of Fundy has been done by ourselves, as well as all the shores of Nova Scotia, Canada, and Newfoundland; and when these surveys are finished we shall only want to complete the eastern coast of America, those of Labrador and of Hudson Bay, which, being in our possession, ought to appear in our charts with some degrees of truth. In reply to the latter part of this clause it may be stated, that on an average of the last few years the Admiralty have employed on foreign surveys 11 vessels and about 950 men; and that however incumbent on this county, to take the lead in such efforts, still this amount of force, if properly dis' ributed and constantly employed may be fairly considered as our full share of that great duty which all maritime nations owe to the interests of navigation.

The Admiralty surveys, charts, and sailing directions, have been ren. dered available to the mercantile marine by selling them at very low prices, and, in order to prevent any mistake on that head, the price is invariably printed on each chart, plan, or book.

The largest sizes that are engraved-viz., antiquary or double elephant

-are sold for 3s., the next size for 2s., and so on down to the small plans, for which 6d. is charged.

For the sale of the charts the Admiralty employ a general agent (Bate, 21, Poultry,) with a commission of 40 per cent. Sub-agents in all the ports of the United Kingdom are appointed by that house, with an allowance of 25 per cent.; and when any alterations are made in any plate, corrrect impressions are given in exchange for all the copies which the agent may have on hand, and which are immediately cancelled in this office.

The several objects stated in the last clause of the order of the House of Commons would be attained by placing a competent person at the head of the hydrographic department of the East India House in London. He ought to be a seaman, in order to select the points of information required by the navigator; and he ought to be a surveyor, that he may know how to express with precision that information.

The Court of Directors have always been the patrons of useful science; they have several active and experienced officers in their Marine; and a very moderate establishment would soon give a new face to Eastern hydrography.

March 2, 1848.

E. BEAUFORT, Rear-Admiral, Hydrographer.

NAUTICAL NOTICES.

Trinity House, London, 27th March, 1848. WRECK NEAR THE WEST BLYTH BEACON, RIVER THAMES.-Notice is hereby given, that a Green Buoy, marked with the word" Wreck," has been placed 10 fathoms N.N.E. of a barge, sunk in 9 feet at low water spring tides, near to the above-mentioned beacon, and with the following marks and compass bearings, viz.:—

Gravesend Mill, just open of the Lower Hope Point W. S.
Frindsbury Mills, just open Westward of a cottage,
having two high chimnies, at Cliff
West Blyth Beacon

S.S.W. W. S.W.b.W. distant 1 cable's length.

By Order,

J. HERBERT, Secretary.

Captain Sir Edward Belcher, lately in command of the Samarang, makes the following observation, on the navigation of the Straits of Singapore. "Keeping on the northern danger line in four to six fathoms, we groped our way at night towards Singapore; but, several times found ourselves grazing on the fishing stakes. To a lighter vessel than the Samarang, this might have proved dangerous, and I think, considering the navigation of this channel, is considerably risked by these obstructions, the authorities of Singapore should prevent their being placed in any greater depth than three fathoms: they might be made available as danger marks by day. As our work is well known at Singapore, we repeat the foregoing, and trust, the importance of the advice, as respects navigation, will not be lost on the authorities.

CORAL REEF discovered to the N.E. of the Wallis Isles by an American Whaler. The ship Lalla Rookh, of New Bedford, Capt. Reynard Ower, discovered a coral reef, 40 miles to the N.E. of the Wallis Isles, 10 fathoms water were found on it. The ship was going at the rate of 3 knots, and was two hours in passing over the bank, running W. S. W. The captain supposed that the reef extended about two miles on each side of his course. In many parts there appeared to be less water. The latitude of this reef is 13° 2' S., and its long. 175° 38′ W. of the meridian of Greenwich.

This information was given by Capt. Reynard Ower, of New Bedford, during his stay at the Wallis Isles.

CURRENTS OF THE OCEAN.

Steam Packet Office, Belfast,
March 20th, 1848.

SIR. At the request of Mr. Lewis, of the ship Ann, of London, I send you the latitude and longitude in which he dropped a bottle overboard, on the 2nd of January, off Co. Derry, with a letter in it for me. Lat. 52° 10′ N., long. 12° 00′ W. The bottle was washed ashore at Perlock, in the Bristol Channel, on the 12th of March last.

I remain, yours, &c.,

JOHN MONTGOMERY.

To the Editor N.M.

Barque John Hutchinson, from Odessa to England, January 2nd, 1848, running before a heavy S.W. gale, with a high sea. Lat. 44° 45′ N., long. by chronometer, 12o 35' W, when the bottle, containing this paper, was thrown overboard.

LIST OF THE DANISH MEN-OF-WAR NOW IN ACTIVE SERVICE. - The Galathea, 20 guns; Najaden, 20 guns; Flora, 20 guns; St. Thomas, 25 guns; Mercurius, 25 guns; St. Croix, 25 guns; Gefion, 46 guns; Thetis, 46 guns; Delphinen, schooner; Pilen, schooner; Neptune, cutter; Hecla, steamer, 200 horse-power, armed; Geiser, steamer, 160 horse-power, armed; Skirner, steamer, 120 horse-power, armed; Ægir, steamer, 80 horse-power, armed. Besides a flotilla of gun-boats, armed with 2 guns, 60 and 40 pounders, each.

The Danish Government has besides, 6 line-of battle-ships, of 64 to 90 guns; 15 frigates, 5 schooners, 2 steamers, and 85 large and small gunboats, which can be put into active service in from fourteen days to three weeks. 25,000 mariners in all, in time of war, stand at the Government service.

AT THE USUAL QUARTERLY MEeting of the ROYAL NAVAL BenevoLENT SOCIETY, held the 17th of April, at which Admiral Lord Radstock presided, the total receipts for this quarter amounted to £1948 8s., deducting expenditure, the balance of £973 remained. The sum of £400 was distributed among applicants, and a nomination to the Royal Naval School, was presented to the son of one of the officers who perished in the Avenger.