m
CHAP. have been g a th e red upo n th e island, and th e n c e in fe rred its pa rticula r
. , formation.
Nov.
Sala-y-Gomez, when first seen, has the appearance of three rocks ;
1825.
its direction is N. W. and S. E . ; and it is something less than half
a mile in length, and a fifth of a mile in width. Some sunken rocks
lie off the N. K. and S. E. points; in other directions the island may
be approached within a quarter of a mile. N. 50° YV. | mile there
are soundings; in 46 fathoms sand and coral; and N . 33° YY^. mile,
140 fathoms gray sand. A reference to the geographical table will
show the position of the island, and I shall here only remark, that
Captain Kotzebue’s latitude is nine miles in error, which perhaps
may be a typographical mistake.
From hence we bore away to the westward, with the intention of
passing near the situation of an island named Washington and Coffin,
reported to have been discovered by an American ship. At sunset
we were within four leagues of the spot, with a perfectly clear sky and
horizon, but could see nothing of i t ; nor had we any indication of land
in the immediate vicinity, but rather the contrary, as the birds which
had followed us from Sala-y-Gomez had quitted the ship some time
before. As the night was fine, and the moon gave sufficient light to
discover in time any danger that might lie in the route of the ship,
the course was continued toward Easter Island, and daylight appeared
without any thing being seen. Had such an island been in existence,
and answered the description of that upon which Davis was so near
losing his vessel, geographers would not have been long in reconciling
their”opinions on the subject of his discovery; as, in all probability,
they would have waived their objection to its distance from Copiapo,
in consideration of its identity.
The subject of this supposed discovery has been often discussed
; and where the data are so unsatisfactory as to allow one
party to choose the Islands of Felix and Ambrose for the land in
question, and the other, Easter Island, two places nearly 1600 miles
apart, they are not likely to be speedily reconciled, unless two islands
exactly answering the description given by Davis, and situated in the
proper latitude, shall be found. Such persons as are curiously disposed
on this subject will find it ably treated by the late Captain CHAP.
Burney, R. N., in his account of the Buccaneers.
YVithout entering into a question which presents so many diffi- Nm_-
culties, I shall merely observe, that, considering the rapid current
that exists in the vicinity of the Galapagos, and extends, though
with diminished force, throughout the trade wind, the error in
Davis’s reckoning is not more than might have happened to any
dull sailing vessel circumstanced as his was. To substantiate this, I
shall advert to three instances out of many others which might be
named. In a short run from Juan i ’ernandez to Easter Island,
Behrens, who was with Roggewein, was drifted 318 geographical
miles to the westward of his supposed situation. The Blossom, in
passing over the same ground, experienced a set of 270 miles in the
short space of eighteen days; and M. La Perouse, on his arrival at the
Sandwich Islands from Conception, touching at Easter Island on his
way, found a similar error of 300 miles in the course of that passage.
Jt is fair to presume that Davis was longer in crossing from the Galapagos
to Easter Island than either of those vessels, or at least than the
Blossom ; and it is consequently but reasonable to allow him a greater
error, particularly as the first part of his route was through a much
stronger current. But taking the error in the Blossom’s reckoning as
a fair amount, and applying it to the distance given by YY^afer, there
will remain only 204 miles unaccounted for betw'een it and the real
position of Easter Island, which from the foregoing considerations,
added to the manner in which reckonings were formerly kept, does not
appear to me to exceed the limit that might reasonably be ascribed to
those causes.
M.- La Perouse was of opinion that the islands of Felix and Ambrose
were those under discussion, and in order to reconcile their
distance from Copiapo with that given by YY''afer, he has imputed to
him the mistake of a figure in his text, without considering that it
would have been next to impossible for Davis to have pursued a direct
course from the Galapagos to those islands, (especially at the season in
which his voyage was made), but on the contrary that he would be
compelled to make a circuit which would have brought him much nearer
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