1672] of the Rest of the Voyage 103 
cause ships to pass by here to take them. It is good 
fresh provision. 
The night of the 17th to the 18th of the month, we 
repass’d the Equinoctial Line or the Equator. 
The 21st, the calm took us, by which we were greatly 
inconvenienc’d because of the great heat which there is 
under the Line, & it lasted more than eight days. 
The 12 th December following, we repass’d the Tropic of 
Cancer, & leaving the Torrid Zone without regret, we pass’d 
into our Temperate Zone. 
We continu’d our route, until 25 degrees of latitude 
North of the Line, from which latitude up to 36 degrees 
north we pass’d thro’ the Sea nam’d Saragasso. This 
Sea is full of Grass, & in places so thick that one has 
difficulty in seeing the water. These Weeds hinder a 
Vessel from making much way. ’Tis as well to avoid 
passing through it. We were constrain’d to do so because 
of the winds from the East & South-East which drove 
us there, & which we met with a little after having passed 
the Line. 
One doubts if these Weeds take root at the bottom of 
the sea, or if they are driven into this place by the Winds 
& Tides. These Weeds are yellow, to whose branches 
there are leaves formed like Stag’s Horns, & with seeds 
approaching the shape of small grapes. 
After having pass’d these Weeds, we continued our Tempest. 
route happily enough until the 26th December, the morrow 
of Christmas day, when being in the latitude &, by our 
reckoning, abreast of the Islands of the Assores, 1 at eight 
o’clock in the evening there arose a storm of wind so 
vehement that our sails were carry’d away & a part of 
our tackle broken, becoming thus unmanageable, without 
power to remedy it. For our safety, because of the con- 
1 The Isles of the Assores are inhabited by the Portuguese. La Terceira is 
the principal, ’tis the Island where at present is relegated the King of Portugal. 
