CH A P . II.
fh e P a f age from M adeira to Rio de Janeiro, with fome
account o f the Country, and the Incidents that
happened there: ’
ON the 21ft of September we faw the iflands called the
Salvages, to the north of. the Canaries; when theprin-
w S f iT t cipalof thefe bore S. 4 W. at the diftance o f about five leagues
we found the variation of the compafs by an.azimuth to be
,/> 5o'. I make thefe iflands to lie in latitude 30° n North,
and diftant 58 leagues from Funchiale in Madeira, in the
direction of S. t6 E.
Friday ^3.
On Friday the 23d we faw the Peak of Teneriffe jbearing
W by S. — S. and found the variation of the compafs to be
from 170 22' to 16° 30'. The height o f this mountain, from
which I took a new departure, has been determined by Dr.
Heberden, who has been upon it, to .be 15,396 feet, which
is but 148 yards lefs than three miles, reckoning the mile at
1760 yards. Its appearance at funfet was very finking;
when the fun was below the horizon, and the reft of the
ifland appeared of a deep black, the mountain ftill reflected
his rays, and glowed with a warmth of colour which no
painting can exprefs. There is no eruption of vifible fire
from it, but a heat blues from the chinks near the top, too
ftrong to be borne by the hand when it is held near them.
We had received from Dr. Heberden, among other favours
fome fait which he collected on the top of the mountain,
where it is found in large quantities, and which he fuppofes
to be the true natrum or nitrum of the ancients: he gave us
alfo fome native fulphur exceedingly pure, which he had 1768. * , September.
likewife found upon the furface in great plenty. v-— v— j
On the next day, Saturday the 24th, we came into the Saturday 24.
north eaft trade wind, and on Friday the 30th faw Bona Vifta, Friday 30.
one of the Cape de Verd Iflands; we ranged the eaft fide of
it, at the diftance of three or four miles -from the fliore, till
we were obliged to haul off to avoid a ledge of rocks which
ftretch out S. W. by W. from the body, or S.E. point of the
ifland, to the extent of a league and an half. Bona Vifta by
our obfervation lies in latitude 16 N. and longitude 210 51'
Weft.
7 On the ift of October, in latitude 140 6'N. and longitude oaober.
, . , 'r • 1 ' Saturday i. 22° 10' W. we found the variation by a very good azimuth
to be to0 37' W. and the next morning it appeared to be 10°. Sunday 2.
This day we found the fhip five miles a-head of the log, and
the next day feven. On the third, hoifted out the boat to Monday 3.
difcover whether there was a current, and found one to the
eaftward, at the rate of three quarters of a mile an hour.
During our courfe from Teneriffe to Bona Vifta we faw
great numbers of flying fifh, “which from the cabbin windows
appear beautiful beyond imagination, their fides hatting
the colour and brightnefs of burnifhed filver; when
they are feen from the deck they do not appear to fo much
advantage, becaufe their backs are of a dark colour. We
alfo took a fhark, which proved to be the, Squalus Carcharias
of Linnasus.
Having loft the trade wind on the 3d, in latitude 120 14'
and longitude 22° 10', the wind became fomewhat variable,
and we had light airs and calms by turns.
On thé 7th, Mr. Banks went out in the boat and took Frida? 7.
what the feamen call a Portuguefe man of w ar; it is the
ilolutburia Thy falls of Linnaeus, and a fpecies of the Mollufca,
C 2 . ft