many a dim superstition, a deep religious sentiment--a conviction of the
might and mercy of Heaven--often rests on the heart of the most reckless
seaman, himself all unconscious of its existence, yet strangely
influenced by its operations!

ANCHOR AT SIMON'S BAY.

We sighted land on the evening of the 20th of September, rounded the Cape
the next morning, and in the afternoon anchored in Simon's Bay. We found
here H.M.S. Thalia, bearing the flag of Admiral Sir Patrick Campbell,
Commander-in-chief of the Cape station: and during our subsequent stay
received every attention which kindness and courtesy could suggest, from
himself and his officers.

We were glad to ascertain that our chronometers had been performing
admirably. They gave the longitude of Simon's Bay, within a few seconds
of our homeward determination during the last voyage. Mr. Maclear, of the
Royal Observatory, and Captain Wauchope, of the flagship, had been
measuring the difference of longitude between Simon's Bay dockyard and
Cape Town Observatory, by flashing lights upon the summit of a mountain
midway between those two places. Their trials gave a greater difference,
by a half second, between the two meridians, than we had obtained on a
former visit by carrying chronometers to and fro. The results stand as
follow:

Mr. Maclear and Captain Wauchope: 11.5 seconds South.

H.M. Sloop Beagle: 11.0 seconds South.

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN HARRIS.