entertained o f the decorum obferved by thofe -under his command during' their
fray in that port. .asrifij ,
The land-wind-not blowing on Monday morning, all idea o f foiling.-was,;giVen
up for that day. In the afternoon the fignal was made for unmooring, and for
all boats to ceafe communication with the fhore.
A t day-break the following morning the harbour-mailer came >on: board the
Sirius, and, a light land breeze favouring1'her departure, -took charge of |(hat ffiip
Over the bar; the Supply and convoy getting under fail, arid1 following her out
of the bay. When the Sirius arrived nearly a-breaft o f the fort of Santa Cruz,
it was faluted' with one-and-twenty guns; a marked • compliment paid by the
viceroy to Captain Phillip, who immediately returned'it;with the like number of
guns. Shortly after this the harbour-mailer left the ffiipj taking with him'Mr.
Morton, the mailer of the Sirius, who from ill health was obliged to return -to
England in the Diana, a whaler, which' was 'lying-here-' bii our krrival. By this
gentleman were fent the public and private letters-'of the fleet.
The land-breeze carrying us clear of the iflands in the offing, the Supply-was
fent to fpeak a ihip that was perceived at- fome little diftanoe '4-head, and which
proved to be a Ihip from Oporto. By her we learned* that the viceroy wait fu-
perfeded in his government, and it was imagined that his fucceffor was Handing
into the harbour in a royal yacht which we then faw under the land. Toward
evening it fell calm, and the iflands and high land were frill in fight. The calm
continued during the greatefl part-of the following day;- but toward evening a
light and favourable "breeze fprung up, which'enabled us: to'erofs the tropic o f
Capricorn, and bend our courfe toward the Gape of Good Hope.--. - ' ; ' -
On the night o f Friday the 7th we had heavy'fqualls o f rain, thunddr, and
lightning.” From that: dine until the 11th the 'wind was rather unfavourable
; but ihifting to the northward on that day, it blew during-the two following
in ilrong gales, with fqualls of heavy rain, attended with much fea. t
Thefe Ilrong gales having, on Friday the 14th, terminated in a calm, Lieutenant
Shortiand, the day following, reported to the commanding officer,; that
there were eleven foldiers fick on board the Alexander, and five or fix'convifrs
on board the Charlotte. The calm continued until the' 16th, when a favourable
breeze'fprung u p ; but thofe fliips of the fleet which could fail were prevented
from.making the mod of the fair wind, by the Lady Penrhyn tranfport and
othersfwfrich Wtere inatfeiitive, and did hot make fall in proper time.
Onthe i cjth the wind was frelh, and frequently blew in fqualls, attended with
rain. In one of thefe fqualls the Charlotte fuddenly• hove-to, a convift having
fallen overboard ; the man, however, was drowned. 1 Our weather wa;s at this
jfime extremely col dand the wind, which had-for fome days been unfavourably
ihifting
ihifting on the 22d, we again looked towards^ the, Cape. A t one o’ clock the
next morning it came on to blow very hard,, accompanied with a great fea; wa
had nevertheiefs the fatisfaflion to obferve, that the convoy appeared to get on
very well, though fome of them rolled prodigiopfly. This gale, continued with
very little variation until the morning of the 128th,-/when- it moderated for a few
hours, and ffiifted round to the S. E. It now again blew in frelh gales, attended
with much rain and fea. But a calm fucceeding all this violence ihortly after,
oh Sunday morning the 30th the weather was fufficiently-clear to admit of fome
altitudes being taken for the time-keeper, when, pur longitude, was.fpund to be
04'. Thence to the 4th of Odlober both wind and weather were very uncertain,
the wind fometimes; blowing in light airs, very little differing from a calm,
with clear ikies; at others, in freffi breezes,- with rain. ■ On the- 4th, Captain
Phillip was informed that thirty of the convi&s on board of the Charlotte
were i l l ; fome of them, as it was feared, dangeroufly.. To render tfris information,
frill more unpleafant, the wind was foul during the two fucceeding
days. •
In the forenoon o f Saturday the 6th, four feamen of the Alexander tranfport
were fent on board the Sirius,-under a charge of having entered into a confpiracy
to releafe fome of the prifoners while th.eiihip ffiould be at the Cape of Good
Hope, and of having provided thofe people with inftruments for breaking into
the fore-hold pf the ihip (which had been done, and fome provifions ftolen
thereout). - The four feamen were ordered to remain in the Sirius,, a like number
of her people being fent in lieu of them on board the tranfport- .
OnThurfday the n th , by an altitude of,the fun taken that morning, the fleet
was found to be in the longitude of 15° 35' E. at which, time there was an unfavourable
change o f the wind, 'and the fick on board the Charlotte were not de-
creafing in number.
On the next -day, as it was judged from the information given by the timekeeper
that we were drawing nigh .the land, the Supply, was fent forward to
make i t ; but it was not feen until the following morning, .
A t noon on the 13th the Supply was fent to inftrufl the fternmoft fliips of
the convoy in what direction they ffiould keep to enter the bay ; and about four
in the afternoon, the harbour-mailer getting on board the Sirius, that ffiip was
brought fafely to an anchor in Table Bay, the convoy. doing the fame before
dark; having croffed over from one Continent to. the .other, a diftance of
upwards .of eleven" hundred leagues, in the ffiort, fpace,of five.weeks and four
days, fortunately without feparation, or any accident having happened. to the
fleet.- ^ ;
e Imme»