VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 
15 
" that which runs forward into all the deptlis of eternity, ¥/hen 
" I lay me down to sleep, I recommend myself to his care; when I 
" wake, I give myself up to his directions. Amidst all the evils 
" that threaten me, I will look up to him for help, and question 
" not, but he will either avert them or turn them to my advantage. 
" Though I know neither the time nor the manner of death I am to 
" die, I am not at all solicitous about it; because I am sure, that 
** he knows them both, and that he will not fail to comfort and 
" support me under them." 
Nothing need be added to this beautiful declaration of hope and 
trust in God, except that I pray, that it may always be made by 
me and mine, under a firm conviction, that it is only in Jesus Christ 
our Saviour as God manifest in the flesh, that we can have any just 
view of God's mercy, and any assurance of favour and acceptance 
with Him. 1 would not wish to repeat it as a moral heathen or 
deist might do, but as a Christian worshipper. 
In the evening, a bright meteor appeared in the north, passing 
from west to east, and it lightned a great deal during the night. 
3d and 4th. We were favoured with good wind, and made tolerable 
progress. Two brigs hove in sight, and great numbers of flying fish 
skimmed along the surface of the water, or flew from the top of one 
wave to the other, pursued by bonettas or dolphins. When the 
weather was fine, the captain always contrived to keep his men em- 
ployed; they were now engaged in making a new mainsail, and the 
black carpenter in building a new cabouse or kitchen, for his black 
brother, the cook. In the evening, some flying fish fell on board. 
Their bodies are shaped somewhat like a small herring, with large 
eyes. Their wings, or flying fins, reach nearly to the tail, and spread 
three inches; but when dry, they can no longer support the fish 
above water. 
5th. At daybreak, land was seen. It was Sal, one of the Cape 
de Verd islands, and presented itself through a hazy atmosphere, 
with two high peaks and some lower mountains to the north of them, 
a k>v/ land running out to the south. The breeze had freshened 
