Ch.I. south AMERICA. 297 



was in little better condition, trailing daily a great 

 dea! of water ever fiiice our departure from Concep- 

 tion. But the captain, unwilling to lofe the benefit 

 of railing in company, and, at the feime timé, rearflil 

 that his men would leave the íliip, determined to 

 keep the lea. He aho apprehended, that a^ the fhip's 

 hull was very o]d, and gready fnattered by her late 

 voyage, on being lea^checl, the neceííary repairs 

 would require a confjderabit time; and thence, be- 

 fides the coils, he v.'ould find it difncuk to get round 

 the cape that year. Thefe confiderations determined 

 him to continue his voyage, wirhout acquainting the 

 other ihips of the bad condition of his vefiel. But 

 this prudence had nearly proved fatal to all on board, 

 as the deie6ls were greatly increafed during the courfe 

 of the voyage. 



Till the 6th the winds were variable, fometimes 

 freili, then dying away ; the fea proportionable, run- 

 ning high in a frtili gale, and abating with the wind. 



From the latitude of 35°, ai', v^e fleered between 

 the S. E. and S. and on the 12th, being in the la- 

 titude of 41°, 10' 3 we were obliged ag::in to fteer 

 between S. W. and W. till the eighteenth j when 

 we found ourfelves in the latitude of 45°, 20'. The 

 winds were firfi: at W. afterwards N. N. E. from 

 which they changed to the E. N. E. and N. E. and 

 varying continually, at laft fhifted to the S. E. S. and 

 E. During this interval, every change of the winds 

 was attended with calms and violent (bowers i and at 

 other times the fea was covered with fogs, or the at- 

 mofphere fo clouded with vapours as to intercept the 

 rays of the fun. 



From the time we left Conception till the 7th of 

 February, being then in 36°, 12', and 9°, 20', weft 

 of the meridian of Conception, we always favy that 

 kind of birds called Fárdelas, but here they left us. 

 On the I ith, in the latitude of 40°, 45', and fome- 

 fhing more to the weftward than on the 7th, we faw 



a 



