From this it would appear that the barometer gives ample warning of an approaching North-West gale, as it had been falling nearly four days before the commencement of the bad weather, this alone ought to be sufficient to put a man upon his guard if near the shore.  Between April the 29th (the first day of the fresh north-easterly winds) and May the 3rd (when the gale was at its height, and the wind began to draw to the southward of west) the mercury had fallen 6-tenths.  The change of current did not precede the wind, but changed with it; when the gale was strong from North-West and West-North-West the current ran a knot an hour to the South-East, and when the wind changed to South-West it ran with the same velocity to the North-East.

The west coast of New Holland is at times visited by sudden squalls, resembling hurricanes.  I was told by the master of an American whaler, that in March 1839, when in company with several whalers off Sharks’ Bay, he experienced some very bad weather, which came on suddenly, without having given any previous warning, but it was not of long continuance; the gusts of wind were very violent, shifting suddenly to all points of the compass.  Some of the ships suffered considerable damage, in loss of topmasts, etc. others in sails, but all more or less.  I think the first squall was from North-East off the land.

The American whalers that resort to the west coast of Australia, are upon different parts of it at all seasons of the year; their range is between the parallel of 10 and 50 degrees of south latitude.  In the summer they fish to the southward, and at that season visit Swan River and King George’s Sound, for refreshments; but during the winter months they are rarely to the southward of Sharks’ Bay; numbers are to be met off the North-West Cape.

Between the parallels of 40 and 45 degrees they meet much bad weather, as it is generally blowing strong with a heavy sea; but between 45 and 50 degrees the weather is much more settled, and finer.  November is said to be generally the finest of the summer months, the winds are mostly moderate, and the weather more settled than at other periods.

Two gales that were experienced by the Beagle in November 1837, between the islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam and Swan River, will serve to show the different effects upon the barometer by gales from opposite quarters, one being from North-West and the other from South-East.

On November the 1st, the barometer stood at 29.90, having been gradually rising for some days previous to that, and the wind had been fresh between north and west.  After 8 P.M. on the 1st, the mercury began to fall, and on the 2nd, the wind was strong from North-North-West—­barometer falling all day.  During the night it blew a heavy gale, and the barometer fell to 29.34.  On the morning of the 3rd the wind veered to the westward, and the mercury began to rise, the weather also became more moderate, and gradually fine.