3 77^. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 119 



we certainly profited by them, for we had now fewer 

 sick than on either of my former voyages. We had, 

 however, the mortification to find our ship exceed- 

 ingly leaky in all her upper works. The hot and 

 sultry weather we had just passed through, had opened 

 her seams, which had been badly caulked at first, so 

 wide, that they admitted the rain-water through as it 

 fell. There was hardly a man that could lie dry in 

 his bed ; and the officers in the gun-room were all 

 driven out of their cabins, by the water that came 

 through the sides. The sails in the sail-room got 

 wet ; and before we had weather to dry them, many 

 of them were much damaged, and a great expense of 

 canvas and of time became necessary to make them 

 in some degree serviceable. Having experienced the 

 same defect in our sail-rooms on my late voyage, it 

 had been represented to the yard-officers, who under- 

 took to remove it. But it did not appear to me that 

 any thing had been done to remedy the complaint. 

 To repair these defects the caulkers were set to work, 

 as soon as we got into fair settled weather, to caulk 

 the decks and inside weather works of the ship ; for 

 1 would not trust them over the sides while we were 

 at sea. 



On the first of September * we crossed the equa- 

 tor, in the longitude of 27 38' W., with a fine gale at 

 S. E. by S. ; and notwithstanding my apprehensions 



* The afternoon, as appears from Mr. Anderson's Journal, was 

 spent in performing the old and ridiculous ceremony of ducking 

 those who had not crossed the equator before. Though Captain 

 Cook did not suppress the custom, he thought it too trifling to 

 deserve the least mention of it in his Journal, or even in his log- 

 book. , Pernetty, the writer of Bougainville's Voyage to the Falk- 

 land Islands, in 1763 and 1764-, thought differently; for his account 

 of the celebration of this childish festival on board his ship, is 

 extended through seventeen pages, and makes the subject of an 

 entire chapter, under the title of Bapleme de la Ligne. 



It may be worth while to transcribe his introduction to the de- 

 scription of it. " C'est un usage qui ne remonte pas plus haut que 

 " ce voyage celebre de Gama, qui a fonrni au Camoens le sujet de 

 " la Lusiade. LTdee qu'on ne scauroit etre un bon marin, sans 



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