18 OTAHEITE. 
which moderated on the 25th, so that they 
were able to keep their Christmas with 
cheerfulness ; but it increased to such a 
heavy gale by the 27th, that the vessel 
suffered damage ; a sea which she shipped 
having broken some of the planks of the 
boats, and an azimuth compass. It also 
wetted and injured a few bags of bread in 
the cabin, which, when the weather improved, 
were got up, and dried. The voyage was 
attended with many circumstances of diffi- 
culty and danger. The few hours of respite 
from the hard westerly winds that blew, 
were, according to a fine expression in Lord 
Anson's voyage, like the elements drawing 
breath, to return upon them with redoubled 
violence. Having tried in vain, in a tem- 
pestuous ocean, to go by Cape Horn, they 
at last made a passage round the Cape of 
Good Hope; and having visited Van Diemen's 
Land, and New Zealand, the ship arrived at 
Otaheite, anchoring in Matavai Bay, at 10 in 
the forenoon of the 26th of October, 1788. 
The voyagers were received with kindness 
by the natives, who asked after Captain 
Cook, Sir Joseph Banks, and others who had 
