* 774-
F e b r u a r y .
March.
'Tuefday i.
extreme punctuality with which he difcharged the feveral
duties of his profeffion.
We had eafterly winds ever fince the 2 2d of February,
which was probably owing to the fituation of the fun, ftill
continuing in the fouthern hemifphere. The weather was
warm and comfortable again, the thermometer being at
7 o degrees; and fome grey terns were feen from time to
time, which according to our friend Mahine’s account,
never went to a great diftance from land. On the firll of
March, fome bonitos appeared fwiftly fwimming paft the
fhip, and the next day, being in 30 a degrees of latitude, we
faw tropic birds again.
. The fcurvy now appeared with very ftrong fymptoms in
the fliip, and I was particularly afflicted with it. Excruciating
pains, livid blotches,. rotten gums, and
fwelled legs, brought me extremely low in a few days, al-
moft before I was aware of the diforder; and my ftomach
being very weak, through abftinence from an unwholefome"
and loathed diet, I could not take the wort in fufficient
quantity to remove my complaint. The fame cafe exifted
with regard to a number of other people, who crawled
about the decks with the greateft difficulty.
We had almoft calm weather from the 3d to the 6th, the
fey was clear, and the warmth and ferenity of the weather
remarkably pleafing; but we were impatient to proceed to
a place
a place of refrefhment, and this delay ill fuited with our mI^h.
wiffies.
On the yth, at night, we faw fome towering clouds and
a haze on the horizon to the fouthward, from whence we
hoped for a fair wind. Already, during night, we had
fome fmart fhowers, and at eight o’clok the next morning,
we faw the furface of the fea curled to the fouth-eaftward,
upon which we trimmed our fails, and advanced again
with a fair wind. The next morning four large albecores Monday 7„
were caught, the leaft of which weighed twenty-three
pounds. They afforded us a moil delicious repaft, it being
now an hundred days fince we had tailed any1 freffi filh.
Shearwaters, terns, noddies, gannets, and men of war
birds appeared numerous about us, hunting the ffioals of
flying-fifli which our fliip, the bonitos, albecores, and dolphins
had frightened out of the water.
We reached the 27 th degree of S. latitude on the 8th at
noon, and then fliaped our courfe due weft in fearch of
Easter Island, difcovered by Jacob Roggewein in 1722
and fince vifited by the Spaniards in 1 770 *, who gave it
the name of St. Charles’s llland. On the 10th, in the
morning, the birds of the grey tern-kind were innumerable
about us, whilft we advanced at the race of feven
miles an hour.. We lay to during night, being apprehen-
* See Mr/Dalrymple-S Hiftorical ColleSion of Voyages, VoI. IT. pae, g c-
alfo bis tetter to Dr. Hawkefworth, 1773.
five