72 A STRIFE OF ELEMENTS. 



It was on the 10th of September 1824, that 

 after having made the necessary preparations 

 for our subsequent residence in New Archangel, 

 and having properly equipped the ship, we again 

 put to sea, and a brisk north wind soon carried 

 us in a southerly direction towards the fertile 

 peninsula of California. Our voyage was safe, 

 and varied by no remarkable occurrence, except 

 that under forty degrees of latitude we were 

 indulged with the spectacle of a most extraor- 

 dinary struggle between two opposing winds. 



After a few days' pretty fresh breezes from 

 the south, clouds suddenly appeared in the 

 north, and, by the motion of the w^ater, we 

 perceived that an equally strong wind was 

 rising in that direction. The waves from 

 the opposite regions foamed and raged against 

 each other like hostile forces ; but between 

 them lay a path some fathoms broad, and 

 stretching from east to west to an immeasur- 

 able length, which appeared perfectly neutral 

 ground, and enjoyed all the repose of the most 

 profound peace, not a single breath troubling 

 the glassy smoothness of its surface. After a 



