by John Marshall

“ The fog was at the same time so thick that we could not see the shore; and it was not until some time afterwards, when we had neared the land by means of a long ground swell, for it was then quite calm, that we discovered the tops of the hills. On the 19th we saw King’s Island, which, though small, is high and rugged, and has low land at its bate, with apparently breakers off the south extreme. We had now advanced sufficiently far to the northward, to carry on our operations at midnight; an advantage in the navigation of an unfrequented sea which often precludes the necessity of lying to. ”

“ Beechey passed the boundary of the districts of Syrt and Barca, and arrived at Sachrīn, the most southern point of the Gulf of Syrtis, lat. 30° 16' N., long. 19° 18' 33" E. Few parts of the world will be found to present so truly desolate and wretched an appearance as its shores in this neighbourhood exhibit. Marsh, sand, and barren rocks, alone meet the eye; and not a single human being, nor a trace of vegetation, are to be met with in any direction. ”

“ The Pitcairn Islanders are tall, robust, and healthy. Their simple food and early habits of exercise give them a muscular power and activity not often surpassed. It is recorded among the feats of strength which these people occasionally evince, that two of the strongest on the island, George Young and Edward Quintal, have each carried, at one time, without inconvenience, a kedge anchor, two sledge hammers, and an armourer’s anvil, amounting to upwards of six hundred weight; and that Quintal, at another time, carried a boat twenty-eight feet in length. ”

“ From a high range of sand-hills between the town and the sea, an excellent idea may be formed of this striking peculiarity of situation; and we often toiled up their steep and yielding sides, to enjoy the singularity of the prospect. ”

“ At the foot of these masses, to the southward and to the westward, are the varied and cultivated lands of Mesurata: there are seen endless groves of palm-trees and olives, among which are scattered numerous villages and gardens, rich tracts of corn land, flocks of sheep and goats, and every where a moving and busy population. To the northward and on the eastern side, the hills are bounded by a promontory of sand-stone and the sea. ”

“ On the 27th of Dec, Commander Beechey made Crescent Island; and on the 2nd of Jan. 1826, he took formal possession of Gambier’s Group, which had been discovered by the ship Duff, when passing to the northward, on a missionary voyage, in 1707. The natives of these islands, all of which are situated in a lagoon formed by a reef of coral, soon evinced an insatiable desire to appropriate to themselves the property of others, and three or four of them appear to have been wounded by the Blossom’s people, in various scuffles. ”

“ They frequently swam round their little island, the circuit of which is at the least seven miles. When the sea beat heavily on the island, they have plunged into the breakers, and swam to sea beyond them. This they sometimes did pushing a barrel before them, when it could be got off in no other way, and in this manner we procured several tons of water without a single cask being stove. The women are nearly as muscular as the men, and taller than the generality of their sex. Polly Young, who is not the tallest upon the island, measured five feet nine inches and a half. ”

“ The difficulty, however, instantly presents itself of proceeding so vast a distance in opposition to the prevailing wind and current, without vessels better equipped than those which are in the possession of those people. This objection is so powerful in the minds of some authors, that they have had recourse to the circuitous route through Tartary, across Behring’s Strait, and over the American continent, to bring them to a situation whence they might be drifted by the ordinary course of the winds to the lands in question. ”

“ In following the route along the coast of the Greater Syrtis, which must have been us formidable to the vessels of the ancients as its sands were supposed to have been to their armies, the first rising ground which occurs, of any tolerable dimensions, is Melfa; where are the remains of an old, dilapidated Marabūt, and occasionally a patch of vegetation, affording a scanty supply to a few miserable looking goats. ”

“ The intimate connexion between the language, worship, manners, customs, and traditions of the people who dwell upon them, and those of the Malays and other inhabitants of the great islands to the westward, leaves no doubt of frequent emigrations from thence, and we naturally look to those countries as the source from which they have sprung. ”

“ Heaps of sand and sea-weed are thrown up with these blocks of stone, and the roar and confusion which a moderate gale of wind here occasions, are such as in other places will seldom be found to accompany the most violent weather.
“On the 17th of December, we reached Medmet Sultàn, which has been an important military position, as the remains of several strongly, built fortresses still remaining there will attest. At Nehīm there is a sandy bay, into which ships might send their boats, with almost all winds, for water, at three wells which are situated near the beach. ”

“ Arar, between Mesurata and Melfa, is remarkable as possessing a tall and solitary date-tree, the only one to be met with on the coast, in a tract of more than 400 miles.
“Sooleb, (in lat. 31° 45' 40", long. 15° 29' 29") the southern limit of the marsh, according to the dimensions given by Strabo, has the advantage of some tolerable pasturage, and is in consequence occupied by flocks of sheep and goats, which are chiefly tended by negro slaves, who dwell in scattered tents, with the animals confided to their charge. ”

“ On the 25th of July, 1822, they embarked at Bengazi on board a bullock-vessel bound to Malta; and from thence returned to England.
Some time previous to his departure from Africa, Mr. Frederick W. Beechey had been promoted to the rank of commander; and on the 12th of Jan. 1825, he was appointed to the Blossom sloop, fitting out for a voyage to the Pacific and Behring’s Strait, to co-operate with the polar expeditions under Captains Parry and Franklin. During his absence from England, a period of three years and a half, he sailed 73,000 miles, and experienced every vicissitude of climate. ”

“ When the camels were loaded, and we were about to drive them off, the warmth of our opponents had abated; for an Arab very easily makes up his mind to submission, when he finds that the chances are not greatly in his favor; and they followed us without offering further resistance, resuming by degrees their customary occupations.
“We now passed over a succession of undulating ground, covered with pasturage, among which appeared flocks of sheep and goats, and here send there an Arab tent. ”

“ Richard Brydges Beechey, midshipman, and a crew of eight seamen and marines.
About ninety miles to the northward of Pitcairn, there is a coral formation, which has been named Oeno Island, after a whale-ship, whose master supposed that it had not before been seen ; though the discovery belongs to Mr. Henderson, the commander of a Calcutta trader. It is so low that it can be discerned at only a very few miles distance, and is highly dangerous to a night navigation.
“Lieutenant Belcher was sent to ascertain the depth of water round this island, with permission to land if unattended with danger ”

“ On the following day we reached Carcora, where there are two coves which would serve for boats: they may be known by some high sand-hills lying between them, and by two ruins situated upon the hills inland nearly abreast of them. At the foot of the sand-hills there are some springs of fresh water, remarkably sweet and good, within a few feet of an extensive salt-marsh, and on the same level with it. With the exception of the above coves, there is nothing whatever of any interest en the coast between Carcora and Bengazi, the former situated in lat. ”

“ Within three miles of the ship was “an opening into a spacious lake, which appeared to be the estuary of a considerable river;” and to the northward of this opening the coast presented an extensive range of mud cliffs, in which the Esquimaux had already constructed their winter habitations. The nearest conspicuous point of the coast to the most distant land seen from the ship, was named after Captain Franklin. At this place in particular, where the natives appeared to be 80 numerous that they could have overpowered his party in a minute, it was gratifying to find them extremely well-disposed. ”

“ Francisco, in California; examined the Tres Marias and Isabella Islands; surveyed the coast of Mexico from Mazatlan to several miles south of San Blas; determined the position of Cape Corrientes, a remarkable promontory 12,003 feet in height; touched at Acapulco; and proceeded from thence to Valparaiso, where she arrived on the 29th of April 1828.
Here Captain Beechey found orders to convey to Europe the remittances of specie from the different ports in the Pacific; the last of which money, amounting in the whole to upwards of 1,500,000 dollars, was embarked at Coquimbo on the 3d of June. ”

“ These two ports, situated so near Behring’s Strait, may at some future time be of great importance to navigation, as they will be found particularly useful by vessels which may not wish to pass Cape Prince of Wales in bad weather. To the outer harbour, which for convenience and security surpasses any other near this celebrated promontory, Captain Beechey gave the name of Port Clarence, in honor of our present most gracious monarch, then Lord High Admiral, and by whom he had recently been promoted. ”

“ A few weeks repose, in a comfortable stable, at Bengazi, was however sufficient to restore most of our horses to their former strength and condition; and they afterwards carried us in very good style over the steep woody hills and rugged passes of the Cyrenaica.
“The harbour of Bengazi appears to have been formerly capable of containing good-sized vessels, and, even in the recollection of some of the present inhabitants, the Bashaw’s ships were accustomed to lie, where now only boats can be accommodated. ”

“ Accustomed to perform all domestic duties, to provide wood for cooking, which is there a work of some labour, and sometimes to till the ground, their strength is in proportion to their muscularity; and they are no less at home in the water than the men. ”

“ At a short distance from Rhout el Assoud (lat. 30° 50', long. 20° 6') , wc observed to the north-eastward, about a mile distant from the shore, six rocks connected by breakers, under which there appeared to be good anchorage for small vessels: the coast opposite them is low, and formed in shallow sandy bays, some of which have rocks extending across their entrance, and would afford protection for boats. ”

“ Commander Beechey’s object was now to make the best of his way to Chamisso Island, in Kotzebue Sound, as there were but three weeks left before the appointed time of rendezvous there; and accordingly every effort was directed toAvards that end.
“With the summer characteristics of this latitude – fine weather and a thick fog – we advanced,” says he, “to the northward, attended by a great many birds, nearly all the same kind as those which inhabit the Greenland Sea. In lat. ”

“ On her return from Port Clarence to Chamisso Island, the Blossom experienced very bad weather, lost one of her best seamen overboard, and narrowly escaped being wrecked upon a sand near Hotham Inlet. In the mean time, her decked boat, then under the command of Lieutenant Belcher, had proceeded along the coast to the north-eastward of Icy Cape, until stopped by the ice in 70° 41', when she returned to Kotzebue Sound, and there foundered, with three of her crew, in a gale which suddenly arose while that officer and Mr. ”