62 Cordoia's Foj/age of Discovery 



other Vigia, in latitude 42^ 30'; — a danger we had before had 

 DO thought of incurring. 



As the heavens were in general overcast, with but few inter- 

 vals of clear weather, our time-piece was of great use in observ- 

 ing meridian altitudes of the sun, when we had calculated the 

 hour of his southing \ and by this means we had great confi- 

 dence in our calculations of the latitude, which, without such 

 helps, must have been very uncertain. The assistance to be 

 derived from those machines ought highly to increabe their 

 value in the opinion of all navigators. 



On the 2d of June the wind began to draw towards the W. 

 which enabled us to improve our direction, and thereby to di- 

 minish our latitude. The following day we discovered a 

 vessel, and at 2f p.m. were within speech of her. She proved 

 to be the Na. Sra. de la Antigua, from Brazil to Oporto, had 

 been ninety-eeven days on her passage, and had not seen the 

 Azores. We set the captain right as to his position, in which 

 he was very much mistaken. 



I'he night of the 4th was spent in calms, but in the morning 

 the wind sprung up from the eastward. We now began to 

 discover a number of vessels standing to the northward. The 

 meeting with them in this latitude, at such a distance from the 

 land, proved to us that the winds had blown from the N.E. 

 quarter for some time, as we afterv/ards were told had been the 

 case ; on which account we were glad that we had passed to 

 the W. and N. of the Azores. 



In these two last days we took eight series of lunar distances 

 from the sun, the mean of which placed the frigate 6' Ti" to the 

 eastward of the position given by the time-piece ; and, applj^ing 

 this small correction to our account, we steered so as to fall in 

 fifteen or twenty leagues to the west of Cape St. Vincent, pay- 

 ing no attention to our reckoning, which, in these few days 

 past, had contracted an error of if" to the E. ; which, had we 

 trusted to it, might have produced very disagreeable conse- 

 quences. 



We continued our voyage until the 9th, without any remark- 

 able occurrence, only seemg sundry vessels from time to time; 

 and, at 5 P.M., at last came within sight of the land. In half an 

 hour more we could discern it to be Cape St. Vincent; and at 

 10 P.M. by moon-light, we observed it to the N. 



Our reckoning on to this period placed us in longitude 54' 

 W. from Cadiz, whereas that of the Cape is 2° 45'; so that the 

 error in the reckoning, after a run of eleven days from the 

 island Cuervo, had been 1° 49', or twenty-nine leagues, more to 

 the eastward than the true position of the vessel. According 



