Page:Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Volume 1 (2nd edition).djvu/181

Rh European nations, but especially to a country so essentially commercial as Great Britain.

A few words must be said of the map. Travelling along the coast of the Atlantic from Cape Spartel to Cape Blanco, a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, generally within one mile of the sea, and often along the beach, a sailor's attention would naturally be directed to endeavour to fix the line of the coast, to effect which no opportunity was lost; not less than one hundred bearings were taken, solely for the purpose of fixing points and headlands accurately, and which were invariably transferred to paper before going to bed. The rough track contained in fourteen sheets, on the scale of half an inch to a mile, will exemplify this. These sheets have been connected, corrected by astronomical observations, and reduced to a small scale. The windings of the river Seboo are from a sketch of Colonel Harding, R.E., who accompanied a mission to Fās in 1825. The points of the northern coast from Tofiño and the Admiralty charts; for the south-western parts of the coast obligations are due to the liberality and kindness of Captain Beaufort, hydrographer, for allowing the use of the late Captain Boteler's observations. With such help there is no hesitation in asserting that the present is by far the most correct map hitherto completed of the empire of Marocco.



the vast extent of sea-coast that comprises the southern part of this continent, it is not a little surprising that it should have been so frequently passed by during the last century without having been more visited and explored. Within the last eight or ten years, however, it has been very much resorted to by English and American vessels in the seal trade, and to the observing portion of their enterprising crews many of its intricacies are well known; but as the knowledge they have derived from their experience has only in one instance, that of Mr. Weddel's voyage, been published to the world, our charts cannot be said to have been much improved for the last fifty years.

The eastern coast of Patagonia, by which name the country