§ SIR JOHN HAYasked the First Lord of the Admiralty, If any of the ships despatched for the observation of the Transit of Venus have broken down; and, whether the necessary observations will be hindered in consequence?
§ MR. HUNT, in reply, said, it was true that one of the ships sent out for the purpose mentioned had broken down—namely, the Encounter—in consequence of an accident to the frame of her propeller; but that immediately on the circumstance being made known, another vessel—the Volage—had been 554 despatched to the Cape to take her place, so that no material injury would be done to the expedition.