T H E P A C I F I C O C E A N. 3-1 



the Eaji Indies *, tells US, that " with eight degrees Weft va- ^'776. 

 *' riation, or any thing above that, you may venture to fail 

 *' by the Cape de Verde Iflands night or day, being well 

 " afTured, with that variation, that you are to the Eailward 

 " of them." Such an ailertion might prove of dangerous 

 confequence, were there any that would implicitly truft to 

 ir. We alfo tried the current, and found one fetting South 

 Weft by Weft, fomething more than half a mile an hour. 

 We had reafon to expert this, from the differences between 

 the longitude given by the watch and dead reckoning, which, 

 lince cur leaving Teneriffe, amounted to one degree. 



While we were amongft thefe iflands we had light 

 breezes of wind, varying from the South Eaft to Eaft, and 

 fome calms. This fhews that the Cape de Verde Iflands are 

 either extenlive enough to break the current of the trade 

 wind, or that they are fttuated juft beyond its verge, in that 

 fpace v»rhere the variable winds, found on getting near the 

 line, begin. The firft fuppofuion, however, is the moft 

 probable, as Dampier-f- found th? wind wefterly here in the 

 month of February; at which time the trade wind is fup- 

 pofcd to extend fartheft towards the equinodlial. The v/ea- 

 thcr was hot and fultry, with fomc rain ; and, for the moft 

 part, a dull whiTenefs prevailed in the flcy, that feems a 

 medium betv/een fog and clouds. In general, the tropica! 

 regions feldom enjoy that clear atmofphcre obfervabie 

 where variable winds blow; nor does the fun fhine with 

 fuch brightnefs. This circumftance, however, feems an 

 advantage ; for otherwife, perhaps, the rays of the fun,, 

 being uninterrupted, would render the heat quite unfup- 



* On board his Majefty's fhip Elizabeth, from 1758 to 1764; by William Ni- 

 chellbn, Mafter of the faid Ship. London, 1773. 

 \ Dampier's V03 ages. Vol. iii. p. lo. 



por^abIe. 



