TO RIO DE JANEIRO. 



15 



fact tore some of the sails of our own vessel, but did no farther da- 

 mage, as the men were always prepared against such accidents. 



On the 22d of June the Janus crossed the equator, when Neptune, 

 as usual, paid his visit on board. Already on the preceding evening 

 a deputy from the sovereign of the sea was announced to us ; he came 

 alongside, and conversed for some time with the captain through 

 the speaking-trumpet, after which he departed in a fiery ship ; his 

 vessel, consisting of a burning tar-barrel, afforded us a beautiful 

 spectacle in the darkness of the night. 



Southward of the equator we met with less favourable weather. 

 Transient showers, accompanied with violent squalls, were more fre- 

 quent; the sea was often agitated; petrels (Frocellaria pelagica), 

 dolphins, porpoises, and larger cetaceous animals, were more fre- 

 quently seen. We had passed the line in 28° 25' west longitude from 

 Greenwich, because in the preceding part of the voyage, w hen we were 

 nearer to the African coast, we had much rainy and tempestuous 

 M^eather, and therefore had steered more westerly ; this brought us 

 into the currents which set in towards the American coast. 



On the 27th of June, in the morning, while we were all together 

 at breakfast, we were told that land was in sight. All rushed upon 

 deck, and behold ! Brazil rose before our delighted eyes, above the 

 mirror of the ocean. We soon saw two kmds of sea-weed (fucus), 

 and many indications of land, till we at last descried a fishing-raft in 

 the sea, on which were three men. These rafts, called jangadas^ are 

 made of five or six trunks of trees, of a light kind of wood, w hich is 

 called in Brazil, pao de jangada. Koster, in his Travels in Brazil, 

 has given a representation of one. These jangadas are tolerably 

 steady ; they are used both for fishing, and for the conveyance of 

 various articles along the coast ; and move quickly, as they have a 

 large sail on a low mast. After so long a voyage, we would willingly 

 have made use of this opportunity to procure some fresh fish ; but 



