TO KAMTSCHATKA. 169 



points of the compass ; the current had carried us 

 thirty-two miles and a half to the S. W. in the last 

 twenty-four hours ; and we did not fall in, till now, 

 with the true N. E. trade-wind. 



May tlie 8th : latitude 3° 14' 34'' S., longitude 

 168° 2^33" W. Yesterday, and still more to-day, 

 we observed a number of sea-fowls, of different 

 J^inds, which, after sun-set, directed their flight 

 to the S.W. In the evening, tw^o of them came 

 on board, and suffered themselves to be caught ; 

 and a third had the boldness to fly directly 

 into my hands. After having tied to the neck 

 of the two first a piece of parclmient, with the 

 name of the ship and the date of the year marked 

 on it, we set them at liberty ; the third was sacri- 

 ficed for our collection of natural history. These 

 birds are of the species of sea-swallows j they are 

 about the size of pigeons, and entirely black, with 

 the exception of a white spot on the head. I 

 did not doubt, from the great numbers of sea- 

 fowls, but we were in the neighbourhood of 

 many uninhabited islands and rocks ; and, if 

 time had permitted, I should have followed the 

 flight of these fow'ls, and steered S. W. ; but the 

 current, which set N. W., carried us in that 

 direction, daily, from thirty-three to forty-five 

 miles, and continued so till we had crossed the 

 equator, on the 11th, in longitude 175° 27' 55". 

 After several observations, we found the variation 

 of the magnetic needle 8" 4' E. On the 12th of 



