290 Voyage of the Novara. 



weather it seemed very uncertain whether the anchor could be 

 brought on board, as it struck with much force against the 

 ship-side, in consequence of her severe rolling, and it was only 

 secured at great risk to the life of the men employed. The 

 cable was unbent, and the anchor slipped, so as to relieve 

 the ship (for which the anchor still on board was sufficient 

 in the meantime), from the vehement thumping. The frigate 

 now had to encounter a regular North-wester, and only after 

 three days of the most furious rolling or pitching, was she 

 able, aided by northerly breezes, again to reach her former 

 anchorage. The members of the Expedition, left at St. Paul to 

 prosecute their scientific labours, occasionally experienced 

 a somewhat peculiar feeling when the frigate, owing to the 

 severity of the weather, remained invisible during these three 

 long days ; and fancy involuntarily depicted themselves in the 

 position of men whom the stormy waves of destiny had cast 

 away on this lonely island in the Indian Ocean, there perhaps 

 to languish for weary months out of reach of assistance or 

 means of rescue. 



Old Viot, who had come for the sixth time to the island, 

 alleged that such rainy tempestuous weather at this season of 

 the year was quite an unusual phenomenon, — an opinion which 

 somewhat later was confirmed by the reports of several North 

 American whalers. Ordinarily the fine season commences at 

 the beginning of November, at which period the South wind is 

 the most prevalent, the sky often remaining clear and hot for 

 weeks together. The hottest month of the year is January, 



