The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1838

The Nautical Magazine first appeared in 1832, and was published monthly well into the twenty-first century. It covers a wide range of subjects, including navigation, meteorology, technology and safety. An important resource for maritime historians, it also includes reports on military and scientific expeditions and on current affairs. The 1838 volume, the second of the ‘new series’, reports the official plan for the voyage of the Astrolabe and the Zelee, scheduled to depart that September to ‘the Antarctic Pole’, and the ongoing third voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, to Australia. Alongside regular items on wrecks, harbours and lighthouses, naval personnel, and law proceedings, the coronation of Queen Victoria is briefly mentioned. Other contributions include an article on Icelandic geysers by John Barrow, instructions for preserving plant specimens, descriptions of Pitcairn Island, poisonous serpents, pirates and mutiny, and an energetic polemic against animal magnetism and homeopathy.