1786. “ windarifeth, which lifteth up March. , . . . T_ , the wave. s thereof. Thev are J
.u earned up to the Heaven, and down again to the deep. Their
“ foul melteth away becaufe of the trouble. They reel to and
" fro, and flagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.’’
I lhall make no apology for troubling thee with this paffage
from Sacred Writ, not only becaufe I know thou canft be ferious
upon oceafion, but as it deferibes the feelings of people in diftrefs
a t fea, better than a volume on the fubject.
I forgot to mention, that on the 27 th we found the gammoning
■ of our bowfpritgone, on which we fhortened fail, and got it fecured
with a new one.
The weather now grows more moderate, with frelh Wefterly
Sneezes, fo that we proceed on our voyage a-pace. After I am a
. little recovered from the fatigue of the late tempeftuous weather,
thou wilt again hear from thine, &c.
m Atm Sea, ? w . b . ■ 6th March, i
L E T T E R XIII.
I O B S E R V E D to thee in the conclufion of my laft, that the
weather grew moderate, and tolerably fine, and every thing
feemed now to promife a continuation of it. It being uncertain
how
how Ions it would be before we came to anchor,, Captain Dixon, 1 * 786-
° c April.
on the 7th of March, put the (hip’s company to an allowance or ,_
water, at two. quarts a man per day, befides an allowance for peas
three times per week. Latitude at noon, 44 deg. 13 min. South,
longitude 83. deg. 25.min. Weft..
On the 23d, at noon, we were «134 deg..8 min. South latitude..
Though the trade winds can feldom be depended on out of the:
Tropics,, yet we were lucky enough to meet with a pretty regular
trade in this latitude this ,determined our Captains to fleer for
Los Majos, (an Ifland, or rather a group of Iflands feen by the
Spaniards, and. laid- down by them in 20 deg. North latitude,
and 130.deg. Weft longitude), as they were likely to afford every
kind, of r.efr.eftiment we wanted, and at the fame. time, were very,-
little, out of our courfe.
A t fix- o’clock, in the evening of the 2 5 th, we faw a ftrange fail I
to the North-Weft, and at ten fhe paffed us nearly within hail :..
we expefted file would have.fpoke us,, but this file declined. We -
could not fee her, diftin&ly enough to know what country Ihe
-came from ; but it is. very probable Ihe was a Spaniard going to .
Baldivia. We brought out two calks of cyder, which began to be-
ferved out the 3d of April,, at an allowance of a pint a day penman.
This was a moft agreeable beverage, as the. weather now
grew intenfely hot and.fultry ; , the wind from Eaft to North-Eaft..
On the jth, the armourer’s forge was got upon .deck, and fixed:
up. He immediately began to work, in making fundry things for,
the Ihip’s ufe,.and likewife toes for our future traffic. Thete toes :
are long flat pieces of iron, riot much unlike a carpenter s planer-iron,