in reaching Valdivia, on the west coast of South America.  They scuttled the vessel off the harbour’s mouth, and came in in the boat, reporting it to have foundered.  Being useful artificers in such an out of the way place, few inquiries were made about them, and they were received by the governor as a very acceptable addition to the population.  Singular to say, when at Valdivia in 1835, I saw some of these men; they were married, and continued to be regarded as a very great acquisition, although a kind of mystery was attached to them.  However, their enjoyment of liberty and repose was destined to be but short.  Their whereabouts became known, and a man of war was sent to take them.  All but one again effected their escape, in a boat they had just finished for the governor; and they have not since been heard of.  The remaining delinquent was afterwards hanged at Hobart, where he gave a detailed and interesting narrative of the whole affair.

DIRECTIONS FOR THE NAVIGATION OF THE MOUTH OF THE TAMAR.

The few quiet days we had during our stay at Port Dalrymple, enabled us satisfactorily to complete the soundings at the entrance.  Beacons were also erected on the shore by the Beagle’s crew, for guiding vessels through the channels; they, however, require to be kept white, in order to show well against the dark ground behind.  I furnished Lieutenant M. Friend, R.N. the port officer, with a few notes on the navigation of the Tamar, which, for the sake of the nautical reader, I give below.*

(Footnote.  The most formidable shoal in the mouth of the Tamar, bearing the name of the Middle Ground, is a rocky patch, with, according to report, only 9 feet on one spot at low-water, spring tides, but the least depth found on it by the (Beagle’s) boats was 12 feet.  The north extreme of Low Head, in one with the first black cliffy projection to the eastward of it, or the flagstaff on Low Head, open northward of the lighthouse, clears the northern edge of it.  The leading marks for entering eastward of the Middle Ground, generally called the Eastern Channel, are the Shear and West Beacons.  The latter stands in front of Dr. Browne’s house, which is the first inside Point Friend, the western entrance point.  The Shear Beacon must be kept a little open to the left or eastward of the West Beacon, until you get abreast of the lighthouse; after which, both beacons should be kept in one.  When within two cables and a half of the Shear Beacon, the course should be changed in the direction of the Red Beacon on the Barrel Rock, the first on the eastern side, to avoid a patch of kelp, extending one cable and a half in an easterly direction from the Shear Beacon, the depth, there, at low-water is 9 fathoms, and the least in the channel is 4 fathoms, on a ledge, apparently extending from Low Head to the Middle Ground.