62 



porter's journal. 



collected, as some suspicions of my intention of doubling 

 Cape Horn had got amoiig the crew. Believing that we 

 should have but little use for our light sails until we dou- 

 bled the Cape, I caused the skysails, royal studdingsails, 

 and such other sails as are only fit for tropical weather, to 

 be unbent and put below. 



In the course of our run, since leaving St. Catharines, 

 we have frequently discovered those yellow tracks in the 

 ocean, extending several leagues, and called by seamen the 

 sperm of whales ; but whether they attribute it to the pro- 

 per cause, I cannot say. I am informed, however, that 

 whales have been known to disgorge large quantities of a 

 yellow substance, which floats on the surface of the water ; 

 and I think it not unlikely that it may be this we so often 

 met with. To me it had the appearance of dirty oil ; 

 and the water did not appear coloured more than two or 

 three feet deep. All the tracks we met with were in a 

 line with the coast, as far as the sight could reach ; and 

 from this circumstance, if I had not been well assured that 

 they were caused by whales, I should have beheved that 

 they had been produced by a scum, brought from the coast 

 by currents. Our distance, however, and their extreme 

 regularity, would serve, in some measure, to destroy this 

 belief; besides, it does not seem likely that one tide would 

 produce more than one of those appearances ; whereas, we 

 frequently met three, and sometimes more, only a mile or 

 two distant, in lines parallel to each other. They seldom 

 were more than the width of the ship, and have much the 

 appearance of shoals at first sight. 



From the 28th January until the 3d February the wea- 

 ther was very unsettled. During that time we had repeat- 

 ed calms and heavy blows from every part of the compass, 

 and frequently accompanied with rain. Indeed, the eclipse 

 of the sun, which took place on the 1 st, gave us reason to ex- 

 pect unsettled weather ; and I had taken measures to pre- 

 pare the ship to meet the worst, by sending down our roy- 

 al-masts and rigging, unreaving all our running rigging 

 not absolutely necessary, sending every heavy article out 

 of the tops, as well as all the light sails, such as royals, 

 stay-sails, topgallant-studding-sails, &:c., and diminishing in 

 every other respect the weight aloft. I also caused all 

 the shot to be put below except six to each gun, on the 



