II.

Though the Strait of Magalhaens had been frequently visited, and sailed through, by ships of different nations, before our time, a careful examination of its bays, and harbours, and headlands; of the numerous islands it contains, and of the coasts, on both sides, that inclose it; and an exact account of the tides, and currents, and soundings, through its whole extent, was a task, which, if Sir John Narborough, and others, had not totally omitted, they cannot be said to have recorded so fully, as to preclude the utility of future investigation. This task has been ably and effectually performed by Byron, Wallis, and Carteret, whose transactions in this Strait, and the chart of it, founded on their observations and discoveries, are a most valuable accession to geography.