TO RIO JANEIRO. 41 
It was now the 9th of November ; we had delightful weather and 
moderate breezes from the south and east. 
An amusing circumstance occurred this night. In our course we 
passed very near a large sail, which from the night being dark, the 
officer of the deck of the Porpoise mistook for the Vincennes, although 
sailing on a different course. He immediately, agreeably to his 
orders, followed the vessel, and continued after her until morning, 
when, to their surprise, they discovered that it was a large Dutch 
ship. Fortunately, I had perceived the ship pass, and conjectured, 
when we found the Porpoise was not in sight at daylight, the nature 
of the mistake. I therefore retraced my steps, and in an hour or two 
we again came in sight of her, then tacked and proceeded on our 
course. On the next day, the time being very favourable, we hove to, 
to get a deep sea sounding with the wire line, and ran ont one thou- 
sand six hundred fathoms of it. On reeling it up, the wire parted, 
and we lost nine hundred and sixty fathoms of line, with our sound- 
ing apparatus, including one of Six's self-registering thermometers. 
The wire was badly prepared and ill adapted to the purpose. 
On the 11th we found ourselves near the location of Krusenstern's 
supposed shoal, ran over the position in parallel lines, and satisfied 
ourselves of its non-existence. 
Having now examined all the localities which were designated in 
my instructions, I made all sail for Rio de Janeiro. 
We now found ourselves in the equatorial current, setting us west 
twenty-five miles in twenty-four hours. 
On the nights of the 11th, 12th, and 13th, we kept a watch for the 
periodical showers of stars. About thirty were seen in the mid watch 
of the 13th, proceeding from the Pleiades, and shooting in a northerly 
direction. Our position was in latitude 6° 15' S., and longitude 24° 
25' W. The Peacock, whose situation was about forty miles to the 
westward of us at the time, saw a number shooting from the constel- 
lations Orion and Leo. The equatorial current was now strongest, 
setting thirty miles in a day to the westward ; the breeze had become 
very steady and strong ; the upper current was found to correspond 
with the direction of the lower. Every clay the wind was observed to 
freshen as the sun was coming to the meridian, and continued so until 
the afternoon, when it died away again, freshening after dark, and 
continuing until near daylight. 
On the 16th of November we passed the magnetic equator in 
latitude 13° 30' S., longitude 30° 18' W. The variation was found 
vol. h U 
