April 1828. 



SEAL 



, VEHY EAD WEATHER. 



161 



for any thing but firewood ; of those we felled there was scarcely 

 one that was not more or less rotten at the heart, a defect 

 probably caused by the extreme humidity of the climate, 



" During our stay, the master, accompanied by our boat- 

 swain's mate,(X) experienced sealer, went to take seal on the 

 rocks, and returned in a few hours with some of the inferior 

 sort, called ^ hair seal,' which were numerous ; but the surf was 

 in most places too heavy to allow them to land without much 

 risk. The fry of the young seals we thought extremely good, 

 not exceeded even by the finest lamb's fry. 



" On the morning of the 5th we worked to the westward, to 

 clear the land on each side of the inlet ; and at sunset, Cape 

 Tres Puntas bore N. b. W. ^ W., distant two leagues. The 

 northerly breeze, which we had worked with since leaving Port 

 Henry, increased rapidly to a hard gale, and by 8 p.m. we were 

 reduced to the close-reefed main-topsail and reefed foresail. 

 The gale continued with unabated violence during the 6th, 7th, 

 and 8th, from the north, N.W., and S.W., with a confused 

 mountainous sea. Our decks v\^ere constantly flooded, and we 

 could rarely show more than the close-reefed main-topsail and 

 reefed foresail. Only two accidents occurred : the Kttle boat 

 which we carried astern was washed away by a heavy sea that 

 broke over us, while hoisting her in-board ; and the marine 

 barometer was broken by the violent motion of the vessel. At 

 noon, on the 8th, Cape Corso bore from us, by account, S.E. 

 (true), distant fifty-five miles. I had tried to gain a wide offing 

 to get a less turbulent sea, and because not even an outline of 

 the sea-coast of Campana Island was dravv^n in the chart. We 

 had not, during these three days, a glimpse of the sun or of a, 

 star, for it blew a constant gale, accompanied by squalls, thick 

 weather, and rain. According to the time of year, the season 

 of winter had not arrived, but the weather seemed to say it was 

 already come — 



Sullen and sad, with all it's rising train 



Of vapours, clouds, and storms. 



r/j Thomas Sorrell, now boatswain of the Beagle (1837). He was boat- 

 swain of the Saxe Cobourg, when wrecked in Fury Harbour. — R. F. 

 VOL. I. M 



