1?7^' ROUND THE WOULD. 117 



CHAP. VI. 



PASSAGE FROM DUSKY BAY TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND, 

 WITH AN ACCOUNT OF SOME WATER-SPOUTS, AND OF OUR 

 JOINING THE ADVENTURE. 



Rafter leaving Dusky Bay, as hath been already 

 mentioned, I directed my course along shore for 

 Queen Charlotte's Sound, where I expected to find 

 the Adventure. In this passage we met with no- 

 thing remarkable or worthy of notice till the 17th, 

 at four o'clock in the afternoon. Being then about 

 three leagues to the westward of Cape Stephens, 

 having a gentle gale at west by south, and clear wea- 

 ther, the wind at once flattened to a calm, the sky 

 became suddenly obscured by dark, dense clouds, and 

 seemed to forebode much wind. This occasioned us 

 to clew up all our sails, and presently after six water- 

 spouts were seen. Four rose and spent themselves 

 between us and the land ; that is to the S. W. of us - r 

 the fifth was without us ; the sixth first appeared in 

 the S. W. at the distance of two or three miles at 

 least from us. Its progressive motion was to the 

 N. E. not in a strait, but in a crooked line, and passed 

 within fifty yards of our stern, without our feeling 

 any of its effects. The diameter of the base of this 

 spout I judged to be about fifty or sixty feet ; that is, 

 the sea within this space was much agitated, and 

 foamed up to a great height. From this a tube or 

 round body was formed, by which the water or air, 

 or both, was carried in a spiral stream up to the 

 clouds. Some of our people said they saw a bird in the 

 one near us ; which was whirled round like the fly of 

 a iack as it was carried upwards. During the time 



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