218 
SURVEY OF THE INTERTROPICAL 
18^. but carried us considerably to the westward. 
Maijch On this course we were accompanied by im- 
mense shoals of albicores, (scomber thymus, 
Linn.,) but they were of small size; very few 
measured more than twenty inches in length, 
and the average weight about ten pounds: 
the meat was very good and tender, and, as a 
great number of the fish were caught, proved a 
grateful relief to our salt diet. The atmosphere 
was very damp, and before the vessel entered 
the trade we had lightning every night, but it 
ceased the moment that ■^ye were within its limits. 
Tropic and other oceanic birds, some of a dark 
brown colour, hovered about us, and were our 
daily companions, particularly the latter, which 
preyed upon the small fish that were pursued by 
the albicores. 
11—14. From the llth to the 14th the trade ceased, 
and the interval was supplied by a northerly 
wind, veering round to west, which enabled us 
to make up for the ground we had lost by its 
having been so much from the southward. After 
this we had variable breezes between South and 
E.S.E., but the current, which before had been 
setting us to the north-west, now set to the north- 
east; this change was probably occasioned by 
the south-westerly swell. 
On the 14th we were in 27° 49' S., and 101° 1 ' E. 
Some tropic birds were seen this morning, but 
