.'^4 CAPE AGULHAS. [169I. 



I shall not detain the Reader any longer about it now, our 

 good Swalloiv having been refresh'd as well as we, and all 

 our Company being in a good state of Health, we weigh'd 

 Anchor the 13th of Feb. 1691, after three Weeks resta-shoar. 

 We Saluted the Fort with five Guns, and so set Sail, tho' the 

 Wind was not quite fair for us. After having tack'd to and 

 again some time, we went on in a straight Course to double 

 Cape Needles^ ; we came into 40 Degrees, and the Wind 

 continu'd changeable till the loth of March, when we had all 

 the Prognosticks that fore-run a terrible Tempest. 



The Wind became Impetuous in a very little time, and the 

 Sea foaming and lifting up its Waves, form'd Mountains that 

 seem'd higher than our Masts : the Air appear'd to be all on 

 fire, Lightnings struck us almost blind, and the Waves rowl'd 

 dreadfully in u})on us. But our Crew were most of all 

 terrify'd at the siglit of *S?. Elmcs^ Fire, which stuck to our 



1 During the Southern summer, October to April, the p.assage round 

 the Cape is a simple and easy one to make, the track lying within tlie 

 region of the anti-trade winds. The chief difficulties are the strong 

 gales which are encountered further to the south, at this season, than 

 they are in winter, when they occur near the latitude of Cape Colony. 

 Besides the adverse winds in the summer near the Cape, there is the 

 Agulhas current to be encountered, setting to the west along the edge 

 of the Agulhas bank. To avoid this a high latitude should be chosen, 

 and the parallel recommended to run down the easting as far as the 

 longitude of eastern ]\Iadagascar, is that between lats. 38° and 40°. 

 After reaching longitude 54° or 55°, turning northward, the route carries 

 between Mauritius and Reunion. This track, which was known and 

 used from early time, has been named by the French " the Boscawen 

 passage", in consequence of Admiral Boscawen, with a convoy of 

 twenty-six sail, making a quick passage by this route in 1748. 



All that part of Africa of which Cape Agulhas is the southernmost 

 point is surrounded by a bank of soundings, which is called the bank of 

 Agulhas. This bank begins at 32° 30' of S. lat., near the coast, in 

 long. 29° E., and continually increases its breadth to the southwestward, 

 till it exceeds 135 miles, then, extending north-west, it contracts to the^ 

 Cape of Good Hope, and finally terminates near St. Helena Bay. 

 {Findlay.) 



2 " Dans Tune de ces Travades parurent deux diverses fois sur les 

 mats, sur les vergues & sur le canon de notre Navire, de ces petits feux 



