848 
SOUTH SEA 
CHAPTER X 
Having taken our farewell view of the Ladrone Islands, 
we still continued our course to the northward without 
anything remarkable occurring, except that on the even- 
ing of the 15th of April, being in the latitude of 24° 17' 
north, and near the Sulphur Islands, sailing at the same 
time nearly before the wind, we were overtaken by a vio- 
lent squall, which carried away every sail that we had 
bent. In fact, it was the blast of a terrific hurricane to 
which this part of the world is very subject, but which 
only continued for about half an hour ; and it was a 
fortunate thing for us that it was not of longer duration* 
as it is impossible to say where we might have run to ; for 
we scudded before it at a frightful rate under bare poles, 
with our masts creaking as if going by the board every 
moment, and with a few fragments of the sails flapping 
about the rigging with awful force, which it was im- 
possible to secure until the violence of the wind had 
subsided. And moreover, the thought which alarmed 
us more than any other was, that we were running 
directly towards land, which was not far distant, for we 
were not certain that we had passed the Sulphur Islands, 
although we were well aware that we were near them ; 
and even if we had passed them, we knew that the 
Bonins were directly in our front, so that we were 
