1 693-] OUR DEPARTURE. Ill 



to eat, and which we had experienc'd to be proof against 

 Hurricanes. 



At last the appointed Day for which my young Com- 

 panions heartily long'd, arrived, and having put up our 

 Prayers to Heaven for the Divine Assistance, we embark'd 

 about Noon with our Provisions and Goods. The Weather 

 was extremely fair, and the Wind the same ; so that tho' we 

 wanted a Eudder,^ Cordage, Anchors, and almost everything 

 necessary for our Boat, weak and ill-built as it was, we were 

 full of Hope, that we shoul'd do very well in her. We 

 reckoned the fair Weather wou'd continue, and if so, we 

 might depend upon the Trade-Wind,^ of which I have spoken ; 

 and which according to our Calculation, founded upon what 

 we had heard the Captain and Seamen say, always blow'd 

 at that time of the year, and as long as the Weather was 

 fair. In such case we might expect to make St. Maurice 

 Island in^ two Days and two Nights. 



We therefore departed with Joy, and earnestly desiring to 

 arrive in some Place where we might see the Inhabitants 

 of the World, we past swiftly enough to the Shelves. But 



1 "Boussole" omitted by translator. 



2 In orig. : "cette espece de Vent Alize." The general system of 

 winds in the Indian Ocean, writes Fiudlay, may be said to be divided 

 into : — 1, The region of the N.W. anti-trades or passage winds, south 

 of 25° or 30° S. ; 2, The region of the S.E. trade winds, between lats. 

 10° and 25° or 30° S. ; 3, The belt of calms to the N. and N.W. of 

 the trades ; 4, The area of the south-eas< and north-ivest monsoons, be- 

 tween the equator and 10° S. ; and 5, The part N. of the equator, where 

 the monsoons alternately blow in opposite seasons from northward or 

 southward. Rodriguez, in 19° 42' S., is therefore in the very heart of 

 the S.E. trade winds, the '■^espece de Vent Alize" noticed by Leguat. 



The regularity of this wind is only affected in some seasons W. of 70° 

 E. (i.e., 7° W. of Rodriguez), and the northern and southern limits of 

 this aerial current are extended or contracted according to the season 

 of the year. The occasional disturbances caused in the atmosphere by 

 cyclones will be noticed hereafter, when they are more particularly 

 noticed by Leguat. (See Findlay's Indian Ocean Directory, p. 17 et seq.) 



2 In orig. : " en moins de deux jours & deux nuits." 



