ICE ISLANDS. 



55 



of the ship being by the wind, the helm being put 

 down, she would readily come about : If off the 

 wind, she would come to, with the sails so trimmed 

 as to allow her sailing past the danger ; or if this 

 could not be, still she would be more ready to come 

 about, and certainly be more manageable^ in all re^ 

 spects, than if the yards had been in any other po- 

 sition. 



The latter part of this passage between the latitude 

 of 40"^ and that of Rio, was rendered tedious by 

 frequent northerly winds. On the 24th of August, 

 in latitude 39° 45^ the wind, which had been gra- 

 dually hauling from the S. E. to the north-east* 

 ward, came to N. N. E., then to north, N. N. W., and 

 latterly N. W., shifting gradually at the rate of one 

 point in twenty-four hours. In the week from 

 the 24th to the 31st we made only on an E. N. E. 

 course, four hundred and eighty miles. Du- 

 ring this period the wind was moderate, and the 

 atmosphere filled with a dense haze, which made 

 everything damp. The barometer continued high 

 all the time, never falling below thirty inches, and 

 generally standing at 30,30. On the 31st, in 

 latitude 37"^ south, longitude 39° west, the wind 

 came in a squall to the S. W. This wind, like the 

 10 



