177«5« ROUND THE WOULD. £5^ 



commonly called gulph-weed, from a supposition that 

 it comes from the Gulph of Florida. Indeed, for 

 aught I know to the contrary, it may be a fact ; but 

 it seems not necessary, as it is certainly a plant which 

 vegetates at sea. We continued to see it, but always 

 in small pieces, till we reached the latitude 36°, lon- 

 gitude 39° west, beyond which situation no more 

 appeared. 



On the 5th of July, in the latitude of 32° 31' 30" 

 north, longitude 40° 29' west, the wind veered to 

 the east, and blew very faint ; the next day it was 

 calm ; the two following days we had variable light 

 airs and calms by turns ; and, at length, on the 9th, 

 having fixed at S. S. W., it increased to a fresh gale, 

 with which we steered first N. E. and then E. N. E. 

 with a view of making some of the Azores, or West- 

 ern Isles. On the lit!;, in the latitude of 36° 45' 

 north, longitude 36° 45' west, we saw a sail which 

 was steering to the west ; and the next day we saw 

 three more, 



VOL. IV. 



