96 
OFF CAPE GARDAFUI. 
the wind deadened, and the air, as is nsual here, became sensibly 
warmer. This Cape is situated, by our observations, in lat. 11° 50' 
and in long. 51° 22' east from Greenwich. 
September 28. — At day-light in the morning we found that, 
notwithstanding the breeze had continued during the night, we 
had scarcely made any perceptible progress, owing to a rapid 
current which headed the ship, and occasioned a strong rippling 
in the water. Our efforts during the whole day, indeed, put me 
strongly in mind of the clown in the pantomime moving his legs 
constantly forward without making any actual advance. The 
same marks on the shore remained the whole day abreast of us ; 
the same points of land a-head, and to add to the irksomeness of 
our situation, the heat became intense and scorching, though the 
thermometer never exceeded 89°. As the moon changed on the 
23d, about which time the current set against us, it should seem 
to favour the idea expressed by Dr. Vincent in his observations 
on this part of the coast, that the current runs out of the gulph 
during the wane of the moon, and in, during its increase ; lat. at 
noon 12° 5', long, 51° 15', var. 4.33. 
September 29. — We had just wind enough during the night to 
enable the ship to stem the current, and in consequence we found 
ourselves at noon in the same position. The thermometer was 
90° at mid-day, yet the heat was by no means so oppressive as on 
the preceding day, a circumstance which may be accounted for 
by our having become in some degree more accustomed to it. 
Nothing indeed more depends on relative comparison, than the 
effects of heat and cold on the human frame ; for I have observed 
that it often feels as oppressive when the thermometer is at 85°, as 
