PORTEK. S JOUK.VAL. 



77 



our prospects and give us fresh spirits ; and on the iast of 

 February, being in the latitude of 50" south, the wind be- 

 came moderate and shifted to the northward, the sea smooth, 

 and every prospect of mild and pleasant weather. I con- 

 sequently determined to replace the guns, and get the spars 

 on the spar-deck ; but before we had effected this, the wind 

 had freshened up to a gale, and by noon had reduced us to 

 our storm- staysail and close-reefed main-topsail. It haul- 

 ed around to the westward, in the afternoon, and blew with a 

 fury even exceeding any thing we had yet exj>erienced, 

 bringing with it such a tremendous sea, as to threaten us 

 every moment with destruction. Our sails, our standing 

 and running rigging, from the succession of bad weather, 

 had become so damaged, as to be no longer trust-worthy ; 

 we took, however, the best means in our power to render 

 every thing secure, and carried as heavy a press of sail as 

 the ship would bear, to keep her from drifting on the coast 

 of Patagonia, which we had reason to believe was not far 

 distant, from the appearance of birds, kelp, and whales, 

 which I have heretofore found to be a tolerably sure indica- 

 tion of a near approach to land, and from the clouds to lee- 

 ward, which appeared as if arrested by the high mountains 

 of the Andes. From the excessive violence with which the 

 wind blew, we had strong hopes that it would be of short 

 continuance ; until, worn out with fatigue and anxiety, 

 greatly alarmed with the terrors of a lee-shore, and in mo- 

 mentary expectation of the loss of our masts and bowsprit, 

 we almost considered our situation hopeless. To add to 

 our distress, our pumps had become choaked by the shingle 

 ballast, which, from the violent rolling of the ship, had got 

 into them ; the ship made a great deal of water, and the sea 

 had increased to such a height, as to threaten to swallow us 

 at every instant; the whole ocean was one continued foam 

 of breakers, and the heaviest squall that I ever before expe^ 

 rienced, had not equalled in violence the most moderate in- 

 tervals of this hurricane. We had done all that lay 

 in our power to preserve the ship from the violence of 

 the elements, and turned our attention to the pumps, (which 

 we were enabled to clear,) and to keep the ship from drift- 

 ing on shore, by getting on the most advantageous tack. 

 We, however, were not enabled to wear but once, for the 

 violence of the wind and sea was such, as afterwards to ren= 



