PACIFIC AND BEERING’S STRAIT. 
441 
pose of sounding; late in the evening, however, when we were several CHAP, 
leagues from them, the weather being nearly calm, we were drawn into 
one of these ripples and continued in it several hours, during which time Anni, 
we tried for soundings with a hundred fathoms of hue without success. 
Upon trial a current was found to set S. E. seven furlongs per hour ; 
this experiment, however, was made from the ship by mooring a buoy, 
and was probably incorrect, as the water was much agitated ; and had a 
vessel seen it, or even heard it in the night-time (for it made a considerable 
noise), she would have taken it for breakers and put about. A peculiar 
smell was detected in the atmosphere while we remained unmanageable 
in this local disturbance of the water, which some ascribed to sea-weed, 
and others to dead fish,but it was never ascertained whence it arose. Some 
seamen have an idea, though it is not very general, that this peculiar 
odour precedes a change of weather, and sometimes a storm, particularly 
in the Mediterranean. On the present occasion nothing of the kind 
occurred immediatelv, though about twenty-six hours afterwards, when 
crossing the channel betw'een Formosa and the mainland, the tem- 
perature fell sixteen degrees from the average height of the preceding 
day, and the wind blew strong from the northward. 
Before daylight on the 10th, while we were crossing the channel 
to the westward of Formosa, going at the rate of ten miles an hour, we 
found ourselves surrounded by Chinese fishing boats, and narrowly 
escaped running over several of them, as it was very dark, and they were 
so thick that in trying to escape one we endangered another, and 
were obliged to lie to until daylight. These boats are large vessels, 
and would endanger a small merchant ship were she to run foul of any 
of them. We were informed that they were upon their usual fishing 
ground, anti vessels therefore in approaching the spot should be cautious 
how they proceed, as these boats carry only a large paper lantern, which 
cannot be seen far off, and I believe they only show this when they 
perceive a strange vessel. They were fishing in pairs, one vessel being 
attached by cables to each end of an enormous net which kept them 
both broadside to the sea ; they were constantly covered with the spray, 
and being light, were washed about in so violent a manner that it 
scarcely appeared possible for people to stand upon their decks. Still the 
3 L 
