1806.] Journal of a Voyage to the EaH Indies^ STc. 



21 



as the winds huiii>; from the S.W.,we ftood 

 towiii-ds tlie IJiiy of Bifcay, putting every 

 thing in readinefsi to give a wann recep- 

 tion to an enemy in cafe we iliould fall 

 ill witii one, and entertaining fanguiue 

 hopes that we ihould partake of Fortune's 

 favours at fo propitious a criiis. 



About eleven o'clock at niglit on the 

 28th a velVel fuddenly hove m light, io 

 near that Ihe hailed us in French, requelt- 

 ing to know our longitude. We delired 

 them to heave-to, as we ihould fend a 

 boat on board ; but not relilhing tliis an- 

 fwei', he attempted to make otf, and we 

 were obliged to fire at him. On the Cap- 

 tain's coming on board he informed us 

 that he was bound from St. Domingo to 

 Bourdeaux, and laden with a cargo of colo- 

 nial produce. We told him he was now fo 

 far out in his reckoning, that he mult 

 abandon the idea of prolecuting his voy- 

 age, for we were about to fend a few tars 

 on board, who would condutt him fafe 

 into a Britilh port. The fprightly French- 

 man (who had had no])revious intimation 

 of the war, clearly feeing the tlate of af- 

 fairs,) repeated the ul'ual confolatory 

 phrafe, "■fortune, de guerre," and face- 

 tioully remarked, that " fure enough he 

 mull have been confoundedly out in his 

 reckoning, calling an exprelllve glance at 

 the implements of war ranged round our 

 decks." 



The uncertainty of our deftination, and 

 our having been fitted out only for Chan- 

 nel-fervice, obliged ns to adopt as llrict a 

 fyllcm of economy \\ith refpedt to our 

 water as was compatible with the health 

 of tlie fliip's company. To eil'ect this the 

 men were not confmed to any particular 

 allowance, from a conviction that the 

 idea of limitation in water particularly 

 wiU excite a kind of thirll, and an inclimv- 

 tion for more than would otherwife be re- 

 quired. At the fcuttle-but, therefore, 

 every one was at liberty to drink as much 

 ns he pleafed ; but no water was futfered 

 to be taken from thence except for the 

 exprefs purpofe of cooking, or for the ufe 

 of the fick. 



We made the Illand of iNIadeira on the 

 10th of Tune, pafl'ed Tenerirte on the 

 13lh, the Cape de \'erd iilands on the 

 36lh, and the Cape of Good Hope on the 

 Sid of AugulL About noon this day we 

 obferved a veflel fianding to the fouth- 

 ward, which we chaced, captured, and 

 found to be a Dutch nian-of-war brig, 

 proceeding to Batavia, likewife carrynig 

 intelligence of the war. About eleven 

 o'clock at night we were agreeably fur- 

 prifcd by auothcr Dutchman, who alaioll 



fell on board of us : he proved rather bet- 

 ter than the tirll, being Inden with a good 

 cargo from Batavia to Amlierdani. We 

 difpatched both vellels to St. Helena, and 

 proceeded on our voyage. 



To eufure lli-ong breezes after palTnig 

 the Cape, we lleered fouthwaixl as far as 

 38 degrees fouth latitude, in which pa- 

 rallel we ran moll of our longitude. This 

 was by far the moll unplealknt part of 

 our voyage : the weather was dieary and 

 cold, with alnioll conilant gales of wind 

 from the N. W., and a prodigious fea 

 right aft, which caufed the Ihip to roll her 

 gangways in the water. None but ttiofe 

 who have experienced it can fjim ajull 

 idea of the unpleafantne!s of running a 

 fornight or three weeks before the wind 

 with a heavy fea ; the continual agitation 

 prevented every one from receiving good 

 reft or llcep during the period. Our daily 

 progrellion was from 250 to 266 nules a- 

 dny, Iteering due eafl. 



iiavink reached the 70th parallel of 

 eall longitude, we limped our courfe to 

 the northward, and left this (lormy lati- 

 tude. In the S.l'l. trades a line breeze 

 wafted us t«o hundred miles a day ; and 

 on the night of the 4tli of .September, 

 1803, we faw the tires on the mountains 

 of Ceylon, after a palTage from England 

 of only one hundred and four days. 

 Without the lettft, preparation forfo long 

 a voyage, we had not loft a man by lick- 

 nefs during a run of upwards of thirteen 

 thoufuiid miles. There did not appear a 

 iyuiptom of fcurvy, which may be ac- 

 ccmnted for by Llie difcipline-and cleanli- 

 nefs of the Ihip's company. As to anti- 

 fcorbutics, there were only two or thi-ee 

 cafes of lime-juice on board the fliip, and 

 thefe could be of little confequence 

 among 26-1 men. Much, I think, de- 

 pends, during long voyages, on keeping 

 the mens' minds employed in little amufe- 

 ments and recreations, which are not at: 

 all incompatible with good difcipline. 

 F2very fine afternoon the dance was com- 

 menced under the li;ilf-deck or gangways, 

 which was kept up till eigiit o'clock, dif- 

 fullug general exhilaration through the 

 whole crew. 



On the morning of the 5th we faw land, 

 which proved to be the Friar's Hood, a 

 mountain fo called from the refemblauce 

 which the peak of it bears to a hood ; 

 and indeed it hangs over on one fide in a 

 very curious manner. During the fore- 

 noon of the 6th we kept along Ihore, 

 about 2^ miles dillant, and were not 

 a little delighted with the profpeCt, 

 and the line odour of the woods. The 



coalt 



