Variable fFinds. 261 



colonist entirely at liberty to develope his powers and capabili- 

 ties in whatever direction he pleases, Cape Colony must, ere 

 long, stand forth as the pattern colony for all others in the 

 different countries beyond sea, — a majestic monument of the 

 reward so justly due to the English nation for its policy in 

 promoting the moral and material progress of mankind in the 

 most remote corners of the earth. 



We lay a southerly course in order to strike the regular 

 Westerly winds, which we might hope to fall in with in the 

 neighbourhood of 40° S., and already we again saw our old 

 friends, the albatross, the cape pigeon, and the stormy petrel, 

 in innumerable quantities. 



By the evening of the 28th we had attained our limit 

 in the South-west, but the West winds had not yet made their 

 appearance, so that we had to contend till 1st November with 

 baffling- liorht winds alternatino^ with calms. At lenofth in 



DO O O 



37° 30' S. and 18° 4' E., we encountered Westerly breezes, 

 which, ere long, freshened, veered to the southward, and com- 

 pelled us to shorten sail. We were at this time not quite as 

 yet in the zone of West winds, but had to do with variable 

 winds ; which, however, as the prevailing winds must be west 

 or south, could generally be made available to enable us to lay 

 our course for St. Paul. Although in the month corresponding 

 to May in the southern hemisphere, we found ourselves 

 shivering with cold, the thermometer barely reached 18° Cent. 

 (64° 4' Fah.) during the day in the open air, and our bodies, 



