POKTER^S JOURNAL. 



6;'} 



additional iesson to us, how little dependence is to be pla- 

 ced in the appearance of the weather in this latitude. 



The whole of the 4th the wind continued between S. W. 

 and W. by S., with fresh gales ; and from this time until 

 the 10th, the wind was variable, blowing fresh from every 

 point of the compass, but prevailing most from the S. W. 

 occasionally blowing so hard, as to reduce us to our storm- 

 staysail, attended generally with a very disagreeable cross 

 sea. In the course of this interval, little occurred worth 

 notice on board, except the bursting of the rudder coat, 

 which occasioned our shipping a great deal of water in the 

 wardroom. And, as 1 saw no possibility of securing it at 

 sea, this determined me to make the first convenient port 

 for the purpose of repairing the damage. In every other 

 respect, we had got the ship prepared to meet the bad wea- 

 ther we had reason to expect in doubling Cape Horn ; 

 and, with a view of keeping her from straining as much as 

 possible, I got all our spare spars from the spar to the gun- 

 deck, and struck down two long twelve pounders from the 

 forecastle. 



In the heaviest blows and worst sea we have yet had, I 

 find the ship to be remarkably easy and comfortable. 



We generally kept on the edge of soundings, in from six- 

 ty to seventy -five fathoms of water ; and, although the fre- 

 quent ripples indicated strong currents, they did not make 

 any sensible difference in our run, except on the 8th and 9th, 

 in latitude 47° 36' south, when we were set twenty-four miles 

 to the westward. When on soundings, we frequently met 

 masses of a weed, called kelp, of sufficient buoyancy to bear 

 the albatrosses, and other birds which kept about them ; 

 but we never met with them off soundings. We saw a few 

 whales, but none approached us nearer than a mile. 



The northerly winds have much the character of the 

 southwest winds on the coast of North America, and are 

 generally accompanied with hazy weather. The southwest 

 winds are clear and cold, and bear no shght resemblance to 

 the northwest winds of the same coast. The appearance 

 of albatrosses and other birds generally preceded a south- 

 erly wind, but few were to be seen when the winds came 

 from the northward. No certain guide, however, can be 

 given in this changeable climate, to enable you to judge cor- 

 rectly of winds and weather ; the finest appearances were 



VOL, I. 9 



