Ch. III. SOUTH AMERICA. 213 



other circumftanccs they are entirely the fame. A 

 fmaller bird is alfo feen in thefe feas, called Alma de 

 Maeftre ; it is white fpotted with black, and has a 

 long -tail i but is not fo common as the Pardelas : 

 They ar^ moft frequent in ftormy weather. Within 

 ten leagues of the iflands of Juan Fernandes, are feen 

 fome balenatos, or fmall whales ; and at near the fame 

 diftanee, fea-wolves ^ but the latter feldoni go far 

 from the (hore. 



Though this fea hsts not been improperly dignified 

 with the appellation of Pacific, with regard to the 

 interval between the tropics ; yet that particular can- 

 not with any juftice be applied to it, if confidered in 

 its whole extent : tempeftuous weather being equally 

 common in the latitudes of twenty and twenty-three 

 degrees in the fouth-fea, as in the oceans of Europe ; 

 and in higher latitudes ftorms are more frequent and 

 violent. I am inclined to think that the firft Spa- 

 niards gave it the name of the Pacific Sea, from their 

 being greatly pleafed with its fmoothnefs, and the 

 gentlcnefs of the winds in their firft voyages conclu- 

 ding that it was fo in every part ; but the fury of the 

 winter ftorms, and the roughnefs of the fea, which are 

 equal to thofe in any other parts, abundantly demon- 

 ftrate, that they formed a judgment too haftily. 



Along thefe coafts and the adjacent fea, the winter 

 begins at the fame time as at Lima ; that is in the 

 month of June, lafting till October and November ; 

 but its greateft violence is paft in Auguft or Septem- 

 ber. During the whole winter feafon, there is no de- 

 pendance on being fafe from ftorms, v/hich rife with a 

 fudden rapidity ; and in all latitudes beyond forty de- 

 grees, the winter fets in confiderably fooner, even at 

 the beginning of April, and is alfo obferved to laft 

 longer. 



The winter in all latitudes beyond 20^ is uftiered 

 in by northerly winds. They are not indeed fixed like 

 t:hpre of the S. though common to the feafon. They 



P 3 always 



