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From these chronometric differences it appears that the mer. dist. between Port Royal and the Havana Sheers, through the Grand Cayman is 4° 32′ 45′′ + 58' or 57' 37", that is, 5° 30′ 45′′, or 5° 30′ 22′′; while the same mer. dist. through Nassau is 5° 0' 1", +30' 3" or 5° 30′ 4′′. The latter seems the best of the two, as the variations are very small. The extreme difference of the two is 41". If, therefore, we apply 5° 30′ 4′′ to 82° 21′ 51′′, we obtain as above for Port Royal 76° 51' 47". We shall not, however, for the reasons given above, make any alterations at present.

134. Chagres. (see also No. 78.)

Barn. D.L. Port Royal, 6d. 3° 9′ 22′′

D.L. Great Cayman, Fort G. Sch. 19d 1° 22' 10"

Commander Barnett's station was a hut on Pt. Arenas at the entrance of Chagres river, which appears by the chart to be very nearly in the meridian of fort Lorenzo.

Applying 3° 9′ 22′′ to 76° 50' 54" gives 80° 0' 16" or 1' more than we had adopted; and, applied to 76° 51' 47" gives 80° 1' 9", or l' 54" W. of our adopted position. Again, applying 1° 23′ 10′′ to our adopted long. of fort George 81° 23' 30'; gives 80° 1' 20"; and, applied to 81° 24′ 3′′ gives 1′ 53′′ W. of our adopted position.

This would carry Panama, and other places connected with it, upwards of 1' west of our adopted positions; but we shall not make these corrections while surveys are still in progress on both sides of this part of the continent.

We now proceed to the continuation of the series.

In considering the longitude of Panama, (No. 128), I had overlooked the circumstance that Espinosa in his first volume has given the details of the observations made here by Malaspina's expedition. He gives the diff. long. between the tower at Callao and the place of observation at Guayaquil by the six chronometers of the two corvettes, as 2° 39′ 25′′. Now the latter point was 6" N., and 12" W. of the Iglesa Matriz, or within a very small distance of the arsenal, and the diff. long. agrees within 30" of Capt. Fitzroy's.

Again he gives the diff. long. of Panama and Guayaquil, after a few days' passage, 19' 14". Now as his observatory at Panama was within 13" of the cathedral, or of the north-west bastion, this diff. long. confirms Lieut. Kellett's. Thus the connection between Callao and Guayaquil, which was doubtful from the conflicting nature of the portion of the evidence adduced, appears satisfactorily established. A confirmation of the positions we have adopted has appeared. M. Humboldt has transmitted to the Geographical Society an account of observations of the transit of Mercury made at Lima in 1832, by M. Scholz. These compared with others by M. Bogulawski at Breslau, and computed by M. Galle, assistant-astronomer at Berlin, give

Internal contact, 5h 17m 41-4 or 77° 4′ 59′′ Gr.
External,
5 17 48.5 or 77 6 45 do.

M. Humboldt found the diff. long. between Callao and Lima, by a

chronometer in four passages, between Nov. 9th and Dec. 27th, 1802, agreeing within 4', to be 7° 10.5.

The internal contact places Callao in
The external,

77° 12′ 9′′ 77 13 55

Our supposed long. or 77° 11′ 53′′ thus agrees nearly with the former which will naturally be considered the better observation of the two.

In adopting, therefore, for convenience, Guayaquil in 79° 52' 40", we make the diff. long. between Guayaquil and Panama, (in 79° 31′ 9′′) to be 21′ 31′′ instead of 19′ 36"; we must, therefore, distribute the difference, or 2' among the intermediate places. And since we cannot displace Panama, (which from the foregoing seems the best determined place on these coasts, being referred to the same position both from the eastward and westward,) and since the small discrepancy in question had (as we think) its origin somewhere below Valparaiso, the admission of an error between Panama and Guayaquil is unavoidable in the present state of the question.

In the following, therefore, we consider the supposed or presumed positions to be the true positions, and the adopted positions as arbitrarily assumed merely to accommodate the coast line.

The corrections we shall add are as follows; Salango 1′ 54′′; Atacames 1' 27"; Morro Id. 1' 16"; C. Corrientes 44".

135.

Santa Clara, Id. Head.

Captain B. Hall, D.L. Callao, lch. 8d. 3° 12′ 3" W.
Belcher, 1836, D.L. Puna, 12ch. 0 29 15 W.
Puna 3' 24" W. of Arsenal

80° 25' 48"

80 25 19

We adopt 80° 25′ 19′′

136. Pt. St. Helena, Extreme.

Espin. I. p. 151, 74° 38′ Cadiz, or 1° 6' W. of Guay.
Belch. D.L. Puna, 9ch. 14d. 1° 4′ 34′′ ·

80 59 0

1° 4' 6"

81 0 10

12ch. 5d. 1 3 57

(By our presumed position of Puna, 80° 58' 18".) We adopt 81° 0', because this place being W. of Guayaquil, and not distant, no correction is necessary.

STORM OF NOVEMBER 13th, 1840, as observed near Bristol.

Thursday, 12th Nov.-Morning calm and foggy; in the course of the day a breeze arose from the east accompanied with rain.

Friday, 13th.-Four days after the full moon; foggy showers during the early morn; fresh breeze from the east. On going into the garden at 7 AM. I was greatly surprised to find the air quite warm. Forenoon, wind increased to a strong gale, veering to the south-eastward, with heavy rain; by 11h. 15m. the wind had rapidly increased in violence, and veered round to south, the squalls powerful. Dense clouds darkening all below, had spread over every part of the concave, and the scud was rapidly fleeting towards the north; at this time the centre of the storm bore west from a position, south-west one mile from the city of Bristol.

ENLARGED SERIES.-NO. 2.-VOL. FOR 1841.

At 1h. 15m. PM. the squalls were tremendously heavy, accompanied with a deluge of rain: I expected the windows would be forced in, so powerful were the gusts; the direction of the current of air was oblique, which, probably, saved the glass: the wind was S.S.W. These tremendous squalls lasted about half an hour, and showed that the storm's meridian had arrived; at the same time informing us of the line the meteor was pursuing.

By 2h. 30m. the wind had drawn round to S.W., the squalls still heavy, but the general force of the wind not so great as between one and two o'clock: the rain held up for about twenty minutes a little after two. Up to 3h. 30m. the squalls less severe, still showery, wind veering round to the westward.

At 6h. P.M. wind west, accompanied with rain and hail showers. At this time the centre of rotation bore north of our position, proving that the nucleus had passed to the left of our station, with an inclination to the eastward of north.

At 8h. the wind had greatly lessened; at intervals light. At 10h. the wind was W.N.W., still squally at times, but the intermediate breeze light in half an hour after, the storm had entirely passed away.

It seems evident that the high wind which had blown all the early part of the morning from east to E.S.E. was the precursor gale; the first pertaining to the circle having been from about S.E.b.E., and the last W.N.W.,-fifteen points of change. Taking the crisis point as a guide to direct us to the path the meteor was pursuing at the time of its meridian over the locality, S.S.W., we find it to have been to the N.N.E., which is rather more northerly than those preceding it, the courses of which have been determined.

The following morning was very fine with a light air from the

west.

It is stated, that at Liverpool, at 3h. P.M. (13th,) the barometer reached its lowest depression 28-39, which was 1.11 lower than at the same hour the day before.

It appears to me, that during the thirteen hours (9 A.M. to 10 p.m.) this storm continued, with the exception of the half hour of the crisis, the general severity of the wind never exceeded eleven, and was often lulled to ten, and at times even to nine. Upon the whole, I should say that it was not so severe throughout as the storm of November, 1836, or that of October, 1838, although the gusts at the crisis were equal to twelve, and to any which pertained to those hurricanes. It is probable, however, that on sea coasts where the wind happened to blow directly upon the open lines, the effects would be found nothing short of those preceding storms.

The gale is spoken of at Southampton as having been the severest ever felt there, and "reached its climax" from the S.S.W. at 2h. P.M. at the time of high water.

At Cowes, they speak of the storm as a "tremendous gale," and the tide as being the highest known for the last eighteen years; and no wonder, as the winds were principally from westward, and the flood coincident with their direction and period.

At Portsmouth, the statement commences thus: "an awfully grand expression of Divine might was manifested here yesterday, (13th Nov.)

by a severe gale of wind, accompanied by a rise of tide higher than has been known for thirty-eight years, by at least one inch and a half, as recorded by an inhabitant of Point."

It is remarkable, that, (with the exception of Plymouth where Mr. Snow Harris exerts his useful abilities,) there is never any regular account given at the sea-ports, of the veering of the wind in these circular storms. Is there not one solitary officer of the navy on shipboard who takes an interest in the subject?-Surely it concerns them

all.

Transit of the storm of the 13th Nov. 1840.

Time 6 P.M. at Bristol, wind west, accordingly we should expect the wind to have been at the same period at the Wash in Norfolk, from the south. About the Tees mouth at south-east. At Kintire and the north-west face of Scotland from the east. On the north-west coast of Ireland from the north-east, and the west coast from the northward, unless the curl interfered so as to alter the direction.

THE SECOND HURRICANE OF NOVEMBER, 1840.

Monday 16th.-Squally with heavy rain, wind W.S.W.,-foggy. In the afternoon the rain ceased: evening and night squally. Last quarter of the moon the morning of this day.

Tuesday 17th.-Calm, dense fog forenoon, a light breeze sprung up from the east afternoon showery, wind increasing. At 3h. P.M. it shifted to south in a squall of great force, accompanied with heavy rain, blowing a storm; the changes to south-west were in quick succession, and at 5h. the wind was S.W.b.W. increasing in violence. At 5h. 30m. very heavy gale; at 7h. 15m. tremendously heavy squalls from the W.S.W., which lasted until near 8h., and proved the presence of the crisis. After 8h. P.M. the wind moderated a little, but at intervals the squalls were still powerful, wind veering to the northward of west, At Sh. 30m. the gale had lessened to a moderate breeze, with occasional squalls from W.N.W., northerly. Again, as in other instances, I found the air quite warm. At 9h. P.M. calm, the storm having entirely passed away to the eastward, after a short but brisk career. At 9h. 30m. a light air sprung up from the west.

On the following day, 18th, a light air east,-fog, rain, and sleet: night nearly calm.

The rotary character of this storm like that of the 13th, seems sufficiently apparent, the changes being from south to about N.W.b. W. ten or eleven points, and its duration only four and a half hours. The course indicated by the crisis appears to have been about E.N.E.

In London this storm came on as suddenly as it did with us, about two hours after i. e. at 5h. P.M., and is stated to have exceeded in vio

lence that of the 13th: at 7h. P.M. it was at its height, and had ceased before midnight. The changes of wind are not given, they were probably from S.S.W. to W.N.W.

S. J.

Storm of the 17th Nov. 1840.

Time 3 P.M. commencement, wind south. In the north of Ireland the wind should have been from the south-east; at Liverpool from the S.S.E,; and the same on the south-east face of Ireland at the above hour.

In both cases the extent of the circle is only assumed for the sake of convenience.

LOSS OF THE FAIRY.

Is there be any duty which falls to the lot of public journalists to perform, more painful, and yet no less necessary, than most others, it is that of recording the loss of officers who were an ornament to their profession, along with their unfortunate companions; but painful as that duty must always be, it is alleviated in no small degree by the reflection, that although cut off in the midst of their career, they have fallen at their post, while forwarding the public service. Such has been the fate of the captain, officers, and crew of H.M. late surveying vessel Fairy. It was not long ago that in endeavouring to place the services of our naval officers employed in the laborious and trying duty of surveying before our readers in their proper light, we had to allude to Capt. Hewett, and his proceedings in the Fairy, in his survey of the North Sea; and we repeat the assertion we then made, that such a survey as he was charged with was altogether unprecedented, and unequalled, not only in its vast detail, and its vast importance; but the great degree of perseverance and labour required for its performance.

Having enjoyed the benefits of an excellent education at Christchurch, Capt. Hewett first went to sea with the late Admiral Rodd, when he commanded the Indefatigable in Nov. 1805; and remained in the same ship under her successive Captains Baker and Broughton during her service on the coast of France, in the Bay of Biscay. With the latter officer he went in her to China in 1811; and on his return home on being appointed to the Cornwall, Mr. Hewett accompanied him as midshipman. In 1813 he joined the Inconstant under the command of Capt. Sir Edward Tucker, and was present in her on the coast of Brazil. It was in this ship that he made several surveys, which so much pleased his captain, that he was presented by him with an acting order as lieutenant, dated in June 1814; and confirmed in the Sept. following in preference to several other passed midshipmen on board,

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