and in deep-loaded vessels, frequently attended with the loss
of every thing on deck from the force of the sea..
The same heavy weather continued with very little variation,
accompanied with hail at times, and heavy rain till the J^th,
when it began to moderate, and towards noon the gale had
nearly subsided, but left behind it an high troublesome Tress
sea, which made the vessel tumble about a great deal, and ship
some water at times. As the wind had varied during the gale
from N. by E. to W.N.W. hauling back at times to W.
and N. W. I altered our course as I found it convenient, keeping
the vessel right before the wind, which, as it did not lead us
out of our way, I preferred on account of the heaviness'of the
sea we had got into, which at times broke much: I was therefore
from this circumstance obliged at all times to have a watchful
eye upon the sea, and throw the vessel directly before it
without regarding any particular course,-by which means she
shipped little water. At noon on the 12th, by observation, I
found we were inTat. 38? W B: long, by account,; 87° T ? E.—
We this day had many birds of th e Pintadoe and B e tte r elkind
about us. One of the former species, a very beautiful bird, in
the height of the gale, from what cause I know not, "unless it had
overeaten itself, fell down on the deck, and vomiteda greenish
sort of matter as it was falling. One of the men picked it up,
and brought it to me, but I ordered it to be laid on the deck,
where it scrambled about till it got'behind a hen-coop, when it
lay quiet. I have reason to believe that aquatic birds, which
chiefly prey on the water, and but seldom visit land, are incapable
of walking, but assist themselves by scrambling with their feet
and wings; at least all 1 have had an opportunity of. observing
did so. After remaining behind the coop about fifteen minutes,
the bird again scrambled to the side of the vessel, and dropped
into the water, where it appeared for th e short time we saw it as
lively
lively as any of the others, which were in numbers about us,
both in the water and on the, wing. I t is certain that thé black
Haglet, which I havecseveral tinkes mentionedia this narrative*
procures its food by- often harassing and fighting1 with other
birds, particularly a,speciestof gull-.(called by.the seamen*« the
Fisherman) ueril they,throw up the food they have swallowed,
which the atherinstantlyseizeson. Probably this might have-
been the cause of theTintadoe taking shelter, with rus. Hereafter
I shall hâve, occasion to. notieetbese kind of birds.
On the 13th, we had moderate fine weather, which enabled us
to determine tbe lQngitude-byjobservatiM of the sun and moon's
nearest limb, to be ^ of Greenwich, By account it was
39^ 5; E. We had the wind a t W.N.W.j towards evening it
haided to the 8, and E. bringing with it squalls and rainy whfch^
gradually, came ;round to the S. W. when wehadblear. steady
wèafeheiifciî
On the 14th at noon, we were in latitude 3f$ Ï S. : by obser*
vation. From, this I judged that we liad nothing to fear from
the latitudes^ which I had- bemrinfonmed were likdlyto give us
muck trouble in regard to the seas-generally met with in tl|en&
As I had scudded through a very heavy One in the lastgalewith-
out the smallest loss or damage, I intended not to get farther to
thé H. thâni88p S. or to the 8. than 40', as to the N«<ófith«hrs£
mentioned latitude variable winds might, much retard my progress,
and in the latter we should •halve ’ as- much wind as:-We
could make a good use of without trouble or inconvehieMeyi
Though'it iltlaidfdown as a general rule that strOtig W.’ or-S. W.
winds With in latitude&dÉj? and 36° S.
I shaped a course more 8. and on the l6 th a t noon, observed the
latitude to be 38° 44' S. ; and the variation, per sun's amplitude
at setting, 28° 45'. W. Weihad a strong breeze with rain the
greatest p art of the following day ; b u t on the 18th the weather
i m m m ! - - became