142 
SURVEY or THE INTERTROPICAL 
181S. 
June 22. 
24—26. 
30. 
July ]. 
fish, of which sharks, and small whales, called by 
the whalers fin-backs, were the most conspicuous. 
The smaller kinds consisted ofbonetas,barracoutas, 
porpoises, and flying fish. A voracious dolphin 
was harpooned, in the maw of which was a bar- 
racoota in a half-digested state, and in the throat 
a flying fish, bitten in half, waiting its turn to 
be swallowed ; for its tail had not disappeared 
out of the dolphin’s mouth. 
For a few days we had light-south westerly 
winds, but they soon gave place to the S.E. trade, 
which carried us quickly to the S. W . The situa- 
tion assigned by the Dutch sloop to the Tryal 
Rocks was passed, without our noticing any indi- 
cation of their existence. 
On the 30th we crossed the Tropic of Capri- 
corn, between the 106th and 107th degree of east 
longitude ; the S.E. trade then died away, and 
was succeeded by light baffling winds, between 
S.W. and South, and from that to East, attended 
with very cloudy damp weather, and frequent 
squalls of heavy rain. This unwholesome state 
of the air increased the number of our sick, 
for soon after leaving Timor the crew were at- 
tacked by dysentery, brought on by change of 
diet; and at one time the disease wore a very 
alarming appearance. . j 
Having reached with difficulty the latitude of 
