!()() COOKS VOYAGE TO APRIL, 



On the 6th, at noon, we lost the trade-wind, and 

 were suddenly taken a-back, with the wind from the 

 north north-west. At this time, our latitude was 

 29° 50', and our longitude 170° V. As the old run- 

 ning-ropes were constantly breaking in the late gales, 

 we reeved what new ones we had left, and made 

 such other preparations, as were necessary for the 

 very different climate with which we were now 

 shortly to encounter. The fine weather we met with 

 between the tropics, had not been idly spent. The 

 carpenters found sufficient employment in repairing 

 the boats. The best bower-cable had been so much 

 damaged by the foul ground in Karakakooa Bay, and 

 whilst we were at anchor off'Oneeheow, that we were 

 obliged to cut forty fathoms from it ; in converting 

 of which, with other old cordage, into spun-yarn, and 

 applying it to different uses, a considerable part of 

 the people w r ere kept constantly employed by the 

 boatswain. The airing of sails and other stores, 

 which, from the leakiness of the decks and sides of 

 the ships, were perpetually subject to be wet, had 

 now become a frequent as well as a laborious and 

 troublesome part of our duty. 



Besides these cares, which had regard only to the 

 ships themselves, there were others, which had for 

 their object the preservation of the health of the 

 crews, that furnished a constant occupation to a great 

 number of our hands. The standing orders, estab- 

 lished by Captain Cook, of airing the bedding, 

 placing fires between decks, washing them with 

 vinegar, and smoking them with gunpowder, were 

 observed without any intermission. For some time 

 past, even the operation of mending the sailors' old 

 jackets had risen into a duty both of difficulty and 

 importance. It may be necessary to inform those 

 who are unacquainted with the disposition and habits 

 of seamen, that they are so accustomed in ships of 

 war to be directed in the care of themselves by their 

 officers, that they lose the very idea of foresight, and 



