William Henry Smyth

“ V.—On the Columbretes, Volcanic Rocks near the coast of Valencia, in Spain. By Captain Smyth, R.N., F.R.S. Read the 10th of January, 1831. The increased avidity with which the study of nature is now pursued, has undeniably been aided by the geographical inquiries of the last century; and it is obvious that the same influence will still be strongly exerted in establishing a knowledge of the organic and inanimate relations of the globe. ”

“ Bearing S. 16° W., and distant three nautical miles from the station on Monte Colibre, is Galiano, a high perforated rock resembling a ship under full sail; and several rocks and reefs stretch more than half a mile to the eastward of it, against and over which the sea breaks very heavily in gales. Nearly in mid-distance between Galiano and Malaspina lies Ferrer, a remarkable quoin-shaped phonolitic rock, with smaller ones in its vicinity; so that the Columbretes are divided into four detached clusters, with deep water in the channels between them. ”

“ The approach on all sides is extremely bold, and the soundings gradual, diminishing from fifty fathoms, over a bottom of brown sand and broken shells, at three or four miles off, to forty and twenty in the passages between the rocks, except where Fidalgo, Lopez, and Luyundo reefs are placed. Even between Ferrer and Joachim, there are no less than thirty fathoms of depth. ”