About twelve
o'clock we made Cape Virgins, looking very like Berry Head to the
north of Torbay, and a long spit of low sandy land, stretching out to
the southward, appropriately called Dungeness.
Some of the charts brought on board by Captain Runciman were published
by Messrs. Imray, of London, and in one of them it is represented that
a fine fixed light has been established on Cape Virgins.[2] This we
knew to be an impossibility, not only on account of the general
character of the country, but because no indication is given of the
light in our newest Admiralty charts. Captain Runciman, however, had
more confidence in the correctness of his own chart, and could hardly
believe his eyes when he saw that the light really had no existence on
the bare bleak headland. His faith was terribly shaken, and I hope he
will not omit to call Messrs. Imray's attention to the matter on his
return home; for the mistake is most serious, and one which might lead
to the destruction of many a good ship.
[Footnote 2: I have since received a letter from Messrs. Imray
requesting me to state that the light was inserted on erroneous
information from the hydrographic office at Washington, and has since
been erased from their charts.]
About two o'clock we saw in the far distance what looked at first like
an island, and then like smoke, but gradually shaped itself into the
masts, funnel, and hull of a large steamer.
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