177^* ROUND THE WOULD. 41 



to each man the fearnought jacket and trowsers al- 

 lowed them by the Admiralty. 



The wind continued easterly for two days, and 

 blew a moderate gale, which brought us into the 

 latitude of 39 4/, and 2 of longitude west of the 

 Cape ; thermometer 52i. The wind now came to 

 W. and S. W., and on the 29th fixed at W. N. W. and 

 increased to a storm, which continued, with some 

 few intervals of moderate weather, till the 6th of 

 December ; when we w f ere in the latitude of 48 41/ 

 south, and longitude 18 24/ east. This gale, which 

 was attended with rain and hail, blew at times with 

 such violence that we could carry no sails ; by w T hich 

 means we were driven far to the eastward of our 

 intended course, and no hopes were left me of reach- 

 ing Cape Circumcision. But the greatest misfortune 

 that attended us, was the loss of great part of our 

 live stock ; which we had brought from the Cape; 

 and which consisted of sheep, hogs, and geese. In- 

 deed this sudden transition from warm mild weather, 

 to extreme cold and wet, made every man in the 

 ship feel its effects. For by this time the mercury 

 in the thermometer had fallen to 38 ; whereas at the 

 Cape it was generally at 67 and upwards. I now 

 made some addition to the people's allowance of 

 spirit, by giving them a dram whenever I thought it 

 necessary, and ordered Captain Furneaux to do the 

 same. The night proved clear and serene, and the 

 only one that was so since we left the Cape ; and 

 the next morning the rising sun gave us such flat- 

 tering hopes of a fine day, that we were induced 

 to let all the reefs out of the top-sails, and to get 

 top-gallant-yards across, in order to make the most 

 of a fresh gale at north. Our hopes, however, soon 

 vanished ; for before eight o'clock, the serenity of 

 the sky was changed into a thick haze, accompanied 

 with rain. The gale increasing obliged us to hand 

 the main-sail, close-reef our top-sails, and to strike 



