■1 >li
Ti'
I! i í‘
•'h' !
i!i
'i¡'
lili
l i i ' f I:
í i i ' l i \
‘ií í '
Mar.
1827.
i L liiii
chap. Monterey, by a person brought up to the business, vv<as found to be
■ , equally bad; and the failure, in all probability, arose from the heated
and feverish state in which the animals were slaughtered. We frequently
remonstrated with the governor of Sán Francisco against being
obliged to kill the animals in this state, and begged he rvould have them
penned up until the following day, as they were quite wild, had been
harassed with lassos, and dragged many miles by tame bullocks. We
did not however succeed, and if the animals were not slaughtered as
they were delivered into our charge, they either made their escape, or,
as W'as the case w'ith several, broke their necks in their struggles for
freedom. The present supply of provision was consequently of the
greatest importance. In addition to this we procured a few other
stores, but not sufficient for our purpose, and there w'ere no medicines
to be had, so that it was still necessary to proceed to China.
As soon as the ship was ready for sea, therefore, ive endeavoured to
sail, but the wind about this time blew from the south-w'est, and kept us
imprisoned a fortnight; the Harbour of Honoruru being so difficult of
egress, that unless the wind be fair, or there be a perfect calm, a vessel
cannot proceed to sea. On the 4th of March, however, we took our
leave of the authorities and residents of the place, from both of whom we
had received the greatest attention, and put to sea on our way to Macao.
Upon leaving the Sandwich Islands, I directed the course to the
southward; and next day, having gained the latitude of 18° 32' N., I
stood to the westward, with the intention of pursuing the above-mentioned
parallel as far as the Ladrone Islands. I did this with a view
of keeping fairly w'ithin the limit of the trade wind, which, at the season
of the year in which this passage was made, is frequently variable in a
higher latitude, and even subject to interruptions from strong northwesterly
W'inds. I was also desirous of ascertaining the position of an
island bearing the name of Wake’s Island, upon Arrowsmitli’s chart,
situated directly in the route between the Sandwich Islands and China.
A fresh trade-wind attended us until the fifth day after our departure,
when it was interrupted by a breeze from the southward.
The serenity of the sky which accompanied the trade, now became
obscured by heavy thunder clouds, which gathered around us until the
night of the 6'th, when they completely blackened the sky. We had
lig h tn in g freq u en tly d u rin g th e day, which increased so much toward CHAP.
nio-ht, that from eight o’clock to daylight the following morning the sky .--------
presented an uninterrupted blaze of light. It was unusually near; the
Mar.
1827.
forked lightning passed between the masts several times, and the zenith
occasionally presented a fiery mass of short curved lines, which shot off
in different directions like as many arrows ; while the heavy peals of
thunder which generally accompany these storms were subdued by
crackling discharges not unlike the report of musketry from a long line
of infantry. About the commencement of this storm the temperature
fell four degrees, but gradually rose again to its former height. Ihe
sympeisometer was not sensibly affected.
On the day following fine weather was restored, the trade took its
proper direction; and the sea, w'hich had been much agitated by the
changeable winds, abated, and we pursued a steady course. About four
days afterwards a brilliant meteor was discharged from the zenith to-
wal-ds the north-west, in the direction of some heavy clouds (nimbi),
which were pouring down torrents of rain. It presented a long bright
liquid fiame of a bluish cast, and was followed by a train of sparks,
until it had reached within 15" of the horizon, w'hen it exploded, and
three distinct fragments, having the appearance of being red-hot were
discharged. They graduaUy lost their brilliancy as they fell, and were
quite extinguished before they came in contact with the water. With the
exception of the nimbus in the north-west, the sky was perfectly clear,
particularly at the zenith, whence the meteor appeared first tobe discharged.
After these meteorological disturbances we had fine weather
almost all the remainder of the passage. + ,
A t two o’clock on th e 16th we w ere within a few leagues of th e situatio
n of W ak e ’s Island, and th e ship was b ro u g h t to u n til daylight; b u t
seein<z no land a t th a t time we bore away again, and a t noon were e.xactly
on th e spot w here th e island is placed in Arrowsmith’s chart. A few te rn
and a g a n n c t were seen ab o u t eig h t o’clock in th e inormng, b u t we had
no o th e r indications of lan d ; still in th e e.xpectation offa ling in with it
wc c o ntinued th e course du e west, and ran th ro u g h o u t th e n ight, ivhich
was clear and fine, b u t w ith o u t being more successful. 1 afterwards
learned th a t th e master of an American trad e r lan d ed upo n a coral
island, nearly in th e same longitude, in th e la titu d e 19" i8 ' N . which