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 volume for 1857 includes serials on privateering in the West Indies, a voyage to St Lucia, and on Cambodia. It also describes regions including Zanzibar, the Baltic, Arabia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific and Australasia, and contains military reports about the Crimea and Canton. There are reviews of books by Dr Kane on the Franklin searches and by Livingstone on his missionary travels. Several articles describe the progress of the Atlantic Electric Cable project, and the prospect of telegraphic communication with India is also discussed. The volume also contains a translation of the French merchant shipping code.