It was now the depth of winter in these parts, and we had hard gales and high seas that frequently brought us under our courses and low sails: the winds were also variable, and though we were near the tropic, the weather was dark, hazey, and cold, with frequent thunder and lightning, sleet and rain. The sun was above the horizon about ten hours in the four and twenty, but we frequently passed many days together without seeing him; and the weather was so thick, that when he was below the horizon the darkness was dreadful: the gloominess of the weather was indeed not only a disagreeable but a most dangerous circumstance, as we were often long without being able to make an observation, and were, notwithstanding, obliged to carry all the sail we could spread, day and night, our ship being so bad a sailer, and our voyage so long, to prevent our perishing by hunger, which, with all its concomitant horrors, would otherwise be inevitable.

Voyaging Accounts