On the 22d, being in latitude 20° 52’S., longitude 115° 38’W. with a faint breeze at E.S.E. we had so great a swell from the southward, that we were in perpetual danger of our masts rolling over the ship’s side, so that I was obliged to haul more to the northward, as well to ease the ship, as in hopes of getting the true trade-wind, which we had not yet; and now to my great concern some of my best men began to complain of the scurvy. This day, for the first time, we caught two bonettas; we also saw several tropic birds about the ship, and observed that they were larger than any we had seen before; their whole plumage was white, and they had two long feathers in the tail. The variation now had changed its direction, and was 19’W.

On the 26th, we saw two large birds about the ship, which were all black, except the neck and the beak, which were white; they had long wings, and long feathers in their tail, yet we observed that they flew heavily, and therefore imagined that they were of a species which did not usually fly far from the shore. I had flattered myself, that, before we had run six degrees to the northward of Masafuero, we should have found a settled trade-wind to the S.E. but the winds still continued to the north, though we had a mountainous swell from the S.W. Our latitude was now 16° 55’S., longitude 127° 55’W. and here the needle, at this time, had no variation.

Voyaging Accounts