26 



very high land was seen from the mast-heady 

 though not clearly^ as it was surrounded with a 

 thick fog. The wind blew hard, and the sea 

 was very rough. Large drops of rain fell at in- 

 tervals, and every appearance menaced tempes- 

 tuous weather. The captain of the Pizarro in- 

 tended to pass through the channel, which se- 

 parates the isle of Tobago from that of Trinidad ; 

 and knowing that our sloop was very slow in 

 tacking, he was afraid of falling to leeward to- 

 ward the southland approaching the Bocca-del- 

 Drago. We were in fact surer of our longitude 

 than of our latitude, having had no observation 

 at noon since the 11th. Double altitudes which 

 I took in the morning, after Douwes's method, 

 placed us in 11° 6' 50", consequently 15' north 

 of our reckoning. The impetuosity, with which 

 the great river Oroonoko throws it's waters into 

 the ocean, may undoubtedly, in these latitudes, 

 increase the strength of the currents ; but what 

 has been stated respecting the change of color 

 and the saltness of the water, at sixty leagues 

 from the mouth of the Oroonoko, is a fable in- 

 vented by the coasting pilots. The influence of 

 the most considerable rivers of America, such as 

 the Amazons, the Plata, the Oroonoko, the Mis- 

 sissipi, and the Magdalena, is restricted, in this 

 respect, within much narrower limits than is 

 generally thought. 



Although the result of the double altitudes of 



