30 
JOURNAL OF A 
22d. The wind had turned against us in the night, and cast a 
damp upon the sanguine hopes of some of our party, that we 
should soon see tlie Table-Mountain. The sea appeared wild, 
and during the afternoon, had changed its colour. A sailor was 
sent to the mast-head to look for land, but the foggy appearance 
of the horizon prevented his seeing it. By the captain's reckon- 
ing, we were only forty-five miles off. At ten at night, the water 
had a singular appearance. It looked muddy and white, and was 
plentifully bestrewed with sparks. The waves, whose foaming 
had appeared extremely bright, had subsided, and the captain felt 
some alarm. We hove to ; but, on sounding, no bottom was 
found with a line of one hundred and fifty fathoms. We there- 
fore kept under an easy sail all night. 
23d. The wind turned against us, and the sea became restless. 
All at once, the second mate, who had taken his station in the 
main-top, roused us from our dullness, by calling out "Landl" 
He discovered it among light clouds to the south-east. It was 
the Table-Mountain, and some of the adjoining hills. The cap- 
tain being called up, expressed his disappointment, on finding it 
lying in that direction. As the wind changed a point or two in 
our favour, we got on slowly towards it, and hoped soon to reach 
Table-Bay, when suddenly it fell calm, and the rolling of the ship 
became troublesome. Meanwhile, as the weather cleared up, 
leaving only some white clouds on the Table-Mountain and the 
Devirs-Hill, we were exceedingly delighted with the view before 
us. Besides the magnificent group of rocky mountains to which 
the Table-Mountain belongs, there appeared, farther inland, a 
very picturesque range, of singular shapes, some with rocky peaks, 
others flattened like Table-JMountain. We spent the afternoon at 
the mercy of the waves, anxiously waiting for a wind. 
24th. There was something rather distressing in our present 
-situation. We were at the entrance of tlie bay, but in danger 
of being again driven out to sea ; which is not uncommon off 
the Cape. Tlie captain, to our sorrow, had hurt his head so 
much, that for some hours he was quite disabled. Meanwhile, 
