276 



TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 



{August, 



were very painful. No ship appeared in sight, though we 

 were crossing the track of the West India vessels. It was 

 rather squally, and I passed a nervous, uncomfortable night ; 

 our boats did not, however, now leak so much, which was a 

 great satisfaction. 



The loth was squally, and the wind veered to the south- 

 west, so that we could not make our course for Bermuda, but 

 were obliged to go to the north of it. The sea ran very high, 

 and sudden gusts of wind would frequently heel us over in a 

 manner very alarming to me. We had some heavy showers of 

 rain, and should have liked to have caught some fresh water, 

 but could not, as all our clothes and the sails were saturated 

 with salt. Our position at noon was in latitude 31° 59' north, 

 longitude 57° 22' west. 



The nth was still rough and squally. There was less gulf- 

 weed now. The wind got still more to the westward, so that 

 we were obliged to go nearly north. Our boats had now got 

 swollen with the water, and leaked very little. This night I 

 saw some more falling stars. 



On the 12th the wind still kept foul, and we were getting 

 quite out of the track of ships, and appeared to have but little 

 chance of reaching Bermuda. The long-boat passed over 

 some green water to-day, a sign of there being soundings, 

 probably some rock at a moderate depth. Many dolphins 

 swam about the boats ; their colours when seen in the water 

 are superb, the most gorgeous metallic hues of green, blue, and 

 gold : I was never tired of admiring them. 



On the 13th the wind was due west, blowing exactly from 

 the point we wanted to go to. The day was very fine, and 

 there were several stormy petrels, or Mother Gary's chickens, 

 flying about us. We had now been a week in the boats, and 

 were only halfway to the Islands, so we put all hands on short 

 allowance of water before it was too late. The sun was very 

 hot and oppressive, and we suffered much from thirst. 



The 14th was calm, and we could not get on at all. The 

 sun was scorching and we had no shelter, and were parched 

 with thirst the whole day. Numerous dolphins and pilot-fish 

 were about the boats. At night there was a very slight favour- 

 able breeze, and as we had by this time got our clothes pretty 

 dry we slept well. 



On the 15th the wind again died away, and we had another 



