1698.] THE TOHTilD ZOXE. 301 



This Island has neither Water/ Plants, nor any other 

 Quality that can invite any body to inhabit it. It is all 

 cover'd over in a manner with divers sorts of Birds, whose 

 Flesh is exceeding ill-tasted, and very nnwholsom. Their 

 Eggs are good enough.- One sometimes goes a-shoar there 

 to catch Tortoises, whicli are very plentiful, and a great 

 Eefreshment to the Ships. 



We repass'd the Line with a good Wind, as we did at 

 first, without being oblig'd to pull off pur Cloaths on account 

 of the Heat. We have experienc'd much hotter Weather in 

 other parts. This depends on the condition of the Air. 



I observ'd also that our Water, no more than our other 

 Provisions, receiv'd no manner of Alteration in traversing 

 all that Torrid Zone, which by no means agrees with what 

 divers Travellers have writ on that Subject. Altho' each 

 Ship of our Fleet had two Men that were hir'd to make 

 every day the Sea-Water fresh, yet we found that Water so 

 maukish, that the best use we made of it was to give it to 

 our Animals,^ and to boil our Meat with it. 



After some few more days Sailing we came to a flat Shoar, 

 where the Sea* was all cover'd with floating Weeds, whose 



1 Stavorinus (/. c, i, p. 191) says that Ascension affords fresh water. 

 A limited supply of fresh water is now obtained by certain drip-tanks 

 on the sides of Green Mountain, whose summit, 2,818 ft., arrests some 

 moisture from the trade clouds that drift past on the upper surface of 

 the trade wind. What Leguat notices about Ascension was merely 

 hearsay, as he did not sight the island. 



2 Innumerable noddy-terns and boobies frequent part of the island, 

 where their nests and eggs are found in abundance. From the noise 

 and multitude of the birds, this locality has long been known as Wide- 

 awake Fair. 



3 In orig. : " aux animaux, veanx, moutons, cochons, poules, canards, 

 & peut-etre s'en servoit-on aussi pour faire cuire la viande." 



4 The Sargasso Sea lies in that comparatively quiet space of the North 

 Atlantic which is bounded on the south by the Equatorial current, on 

 the west and north by the Gulf stream, and on the east by the Guinea 

 current, which flows southward. There are two principal banks, tlie 

 larger near the Azores, and a smaller; one near the Bahamas. The 



