mouth, and penetrates further into the interior than we had been led to suppose. The distance from Indian Harbour, at its mouth, to North-West River, at its head, is 118 miles. All this inlet was rapidly explored, the main channel for about half its entire length sounded, and the whole laid down by Mr. Reed with sufficient accuracy for ordinary purposes; but these soundings are not nearly sufficient for the requirements of the proposed cable, as we found the depth to be very irregular, and seldom sufficient to secure a cable at the bottom from icebergs. It may, perhaps, be true that the large icebergs seen off the mouth of the inlet are at all times kept out by the flow of water from it, so as never to ground; but with my present knowledge of its depths I would not recommend a cable to be brought there. A complete survey is requisite, and may prove that the shoal water and reefs of rocks, which appear so intricate to us at present, can be avoided.

It is reported that large icebergs rarely drift into the mouth of the inlet, and only during easterly gales of long continuance, and that no icebergs ever come inside the Hern Islands.

I was told that the deepest channel lay to the North of George Island, and between it and the Hern Islands. This is also the widest channel, measuring not less than five miles.

Between the 1st and 17th September the Bulldog went to Sydney, completed coals, rated chronometers, and returned to Hamilton Inlet.

Some lines of soundings were carried to seaward, to the E.S.E., N.E., and North, and prove the existence of a great bank off Hamilton Inlet, extending southward to Newfoundland, and eastward about 110 miles; but about sixty miles to the North it terminates abruptly, where, in a distance of seven miles, we passed from 148 fathoms to 950 fathoms; over this bank we found the depths to vary between 100 and 200 fathoms.

At Indian Harbour I was informed by Captain Norman, a summer resident from Newfoundland, that the deepest water upon the coast was off Cape Webuck (or Harrison) at the North side of Byron Bay. My soundings tend to confirm this statement; but want of time and bad weather prevented me from examining a small bay and a river* immediately to the South of Cape Webuck, about which I obtained some information, and which I was the more anxious to explore, as I considered the small depth of water in the mouth of Hamilton Inlet unsatisfactory. I was, however, informed that the ice is not kept out from Byron Bay by the discharge from large rivers as it is from Hamilton Inlet. To the North of Cape Webuck the coast is said to be extremely rocky and comparatively shoal.

I left Indian Harbour on 17th September, much disappointed at not having heard of the Fox; and being desirous of ascertaining where the cables were to be landed in Greenland, in order to carry deep-sea soundings into those positions, I determined to visit Julianshaab.

Said to be a very considerable one.

Additional soundings and specimens of the bottom were obtained when recrossing to Greenland, and Julianshaab was reached on 29th September.

No information could be obtained there respecting the Fox. The season was very remarkable for the great quantity of ice which encumbered the shores, and had hitherto prevented vessels from approaching Julianshaab; in fact, so much ice had not been known for nearly thirty years. Upon inquiry I was informed that the large Fiord of Tessermiut, immediately to the South of Nennortalik, was the most likely place to find security for a cable, that icebergs never came into it, and that there would be found ample depth of water from it out to sea; also that near to Nennortalik secure anchorage, in moderate depth, would be found in a large bay, and also anchorage up

in the fiord.

The metamorphic rock of South Greenland is frequently traversed by broad trap dykes of far less durable character. These dykes are occasionally seen in the faces of cliffs, and so eroded as to form deep cuts or chasms leading down into the sea.

It has been suggested to select one of these natural fissures in some cliff which the icebergs do not approach, and where the depth is much too great for ordinary pack-ice to ground; and either to fend off this floating ice by means of chains secured across, or to build up the fissure with stone and cement, and so afford the cable within it undoubted security.

I have frequently seen these rotten trap-dykes, varying in width from a few feet to several yards, traversing almost perpendicularly the faces of lofty cliffs. I consider them well adapted to afford the requisite security for the shore end of a cable.

A plan of the little harbour of Julianshaab was made by Mr. Reed during our short stay; and on the 3rd October I put to sea, intending to sound into Tessermiut Fiord, should the ice permit. But it was with difficulty that we got out, for a S.E. wind had brought up much more ice from Cape Farewell, and prevented our approaching Tessermiut Fiord or any part of the adjacent coast within forty miles; and in pressing through this loose ice we sustained considerable damage to our cutwater and paddlewheels. It was, moreover, evident that an early and severe winter had set in, snow fell almost daily, and the nights were already twelve hours long, so that ice-navigation was at an end.

For the purpose of beginning the line of soundings to Rockall, I approached the East coast of Greenland once more. On the 8th October we met with so little ice near the entrance of Prince Christian Sound that we commenced sounding within four miles of some islets lying close to the shore. But that night a storm of unusual violence arose, which blew steadily from N.E. for three days. On the 9th, from 7h. a.m. until 1h. p.m., no hurricane could have blown harder, and for thirty hours we were compelled to lie-to under bare poles, as canvas could not have withstood its force for a moment.

We gradually drifted southward of Cape Farewell and clear of the

land, and the engines were kept going with a view to avoid icebergs; but most fortunately none were seen whilst the storm was at its height, as the engines seemed to have hardly any effect upon the ship. We suffered perhaps less than might have been expected from such a violent storm; but we lost the jibboom, carried away the bowsprit and tiller, had one quarter-boat washed away, the other quarter-boat and stern-boat were badly stove, the sponson floorings were all washed up, although constructed of 9-inch beams, portions of the bulwarks and paddleboxes were also washed away.

We arrived at Reikiavik on 19th October, having sounded along the line between Greenland and Rockall as far East as longitude 26° W. But these soundings were necessarily wide apart, as the stormy weather afforded but few opportunities; yet they have peculiar importance, since where we expected to find 2,000 fathoms we sounded in 748 fathoms; and from a depth of 1,260 fathoms several starfish (Ophiocoma) were brought up alive, having clasped their slender arms round that part of the line which lay on the bottom.

At Reikiavik we embarked (by means of our paddlebox-boats) 181 tons of coals, which had been stored for us on shore. The Fox had sailed on 30th August, and a letter from Captain Young informed me of his intention to go first to Julianshaab, in order to obtain an interpreter for the East coast of Greenland.

After sailing from Reikiavik, on 28th October, we experienced a constant succession of foul winds, and at times such stormy weather as to suspend our sounding for days together. On 8th November we carried our line of soundings on to the Rockall Bank; and on the 9th obtained bottom with 1,310 fathoms, about mid-channel between it and the Vidal Bank.

The wind still continuing directly adverse, and our coals being almost expended, I was compelled to make sail, and I have gladly availed myself of the leeward position of this port (Killybegs, County Donegal), which was the only one we could fetch.

As the weather we experienced subsequent to the equinox has been remarkably stormy, and has proportionably hindered or retarded our soundings and surveying operations, I may mention that during the succeeding six weeks we experienced strong gales of wind on the 21st, 22nd, 24th, 27th, and 28th of September; 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, 29th, 30th, and 31st October.

Throughout our cruise we have experienced little else than disappointment from the instrument (a modified Brookes) supplied for the purpose of obtaining specimens of the sea bottom. Its valve would not always close, and the quantity it is capable of taking up is very limited.

At a very early stage I had a conical cup made, such as Commander Dayman used, and which answered well in soft bottom and moderate depths, where a detaching weight was not necessary. Subsequently, the zeal and ingenuity of Mr. Roughton, Chief Engineer, and Mr. Steil, Assistant Engineer, and Dr. Wallich, Naturalist, supplied simple

and efficacious means of bringing up bottom in larger quantity; and not only the superficial layer of impalpable mud, but material from beneath it, generally differing in colour and tenacity, and stones of more than an inch in diameter.

I am chiefly indebted to Mr. Steil, whose double-scoop machine was the first to achieve this great success. Others have since been made or projected, but too late in the voyage either to aid us materially, or to prove fully their respective merits; nor have we the means on board of making them in such a manner as to afford them fair play. But enough has been accomplished to show that by their means as much of the ocean bed, even from the greatest depths, may be taken up as a man upon the sea shore could scoop up with both hands.

During the rough weather, of which we have latterly had so much, the tapered whale-lines were indispensable. The cod-line of Messrs. Newall has answered admirably: on one occasion it brought up the iron sinker of 118lbs. weight from a depth of 1,913 fathoms. I would suggest that the form of this sinker (which is somewhat pearshaped, with the small end downwards) be altered to that of the detaching weight, which is nearly cylindrical, the large end being downwards, as our experience proves that this weight, although considerably lighter, descends more rapidly.

Since our return to England, Mr. Steil's sounding apparatus for bringing up a fair quantity of the bottom has been made in Portsmouth Dockyard, and deposited there as an exact model. Also an improvement upon it, named (in compliment to the inventors and to the officers of the ship generally) the "Bulldog Sounding Machine.”

THE STRAIT OF BANKA COMPLETELY DESCRIBED.-By Mr. W. Stanton, R.N., Commanding H.M.S." Saracen."

Ship Charlotte Jane, Singapore,
November 21st, 1860.

Dear Sir.-Being persuaded that you are at all times ready to give publicity to any information calculated to benefit the shipping interest of a great nation such as England, would you allow me, through your columns, to bring to the notice of commanders of ships when navigating the strait of Banka, the advantages to be derived by adopting the new channel recently surveyed by Mr. W. Stanton, R.N., commanding H.M.S. Saracen.

Prior to my leaving England, I obtained the new chart of the Stanton Channel, a glance at which was sufficient to convince me of its superiority over that of the Lucepara Passage, and being furnished with ample directions in the Nautical Magazine for February, 1860, I resolved on reaching that far to give it a trial.

On drawing towards the Straits there were a number of vessels in

sight, all steering for the Lucepara Passage. I adopted the new route and stood over for the Stanton Channel. At six that evening anchored at the entrance. The next morning the wind was dead against us, but the tide being favourable, I wayed and turned to windward. In the course of the afternoon a favourable breeze sprung up, which enabled us to stem the ebb, and by midnight I was abreast of Lalary Point; had a good run through the Straits, and no occasion to let go an anchor after getting underway, although at the time I was there it was the change of the monsoon, when frequent calms often render the passage a very tedious affair. The great breadth of this new channel gives vessels ample room to turn to windward. and Mr. Stanton's remarks with reference to the tides I found correct. Being becalmed for several hours, I had an opportunity of observing the direction in which I was drifting, and found the ship to be setting fair through the channel. I am of opinion that ultimately it will be the high road in and out of the Straits, as no stranger nor even those who only make a voyage annually, would, I think, take the intricate passage of Lucepara when an excellent channel, nearly three miles wide, is before them.

I may add that two vessels left Anjer with me; we parted company off the Two Brothers in the Java Sea. I reached here thirteen days before one and fourteen days before the other. I may also state that having many of my crew sick, it was important for me to reach my destination as speedily as possible, there being but few hands to work the ship.

In offering these brief remarks, I cannot but express how indebted I am (and think seamen in general will be) to M.r Stanton, R.N., and the officers and crew under his command, in completing the survey of this excellent channel, so long left unheeded.

I am, &c.,

E. G. P. MARCH. Commander of the ship Charlotte Jane.

To the Editor of the Nautical Magazine.

The foregoing is a gratifying proof of the beneficial assistance of the Nautical in so soon turning the valuable labours of our surveying officers to good account. We have always been of opinion that the high roads through straits and narrow channels should be clearly defined and well explored. Such a service has here been well performed in one of the most frequented thoroughfares for ships in the Eastern Seas on their way to Singapore or China, and we now add to our correspondent's letter the remaining portion of Mr. Stanton's well conveyed description of the strait of Banka, along with the former to which he has alluded, thus saving the necessity of referring to two numbers to those of our readers who may be destined for that navigation.

The Banka Shore-Southern Entrance of the Strait.-Vessels from South for Banka Strait by the Stanton Channel will recognize Mount St. Paul by its flattened summit, with nipples on it of nearly NO. 2.-VOL. XXX.

M