ger. But as the ship scudded well, and 
the wind was fair, she was kept before 
it, under a close reefed main-top-sail and 
fore-sail, although during the gale, which 
lasted forty-eight hours,. the sea fre¬ 
quently threatened to board us, which 
was prevented by the skillful manage¬ 
ment of the helm. On the 9th of Janu¬ 
ary we made the Cape Verd Islands, 
bearing S. W. twenty-five miles distant, 
and on the 17th, crossed the Equator. 
On the 29th of the same month we saw 
sperm whales, lowered our boats, and 
succeeded in taking one ; the blubber 
of which, when boiled out, yielded us 
seventy-five barrels of oil. Pursuing 
our voyage, on the twenty third of Feb¬ 
ruary we passed the Falkland Islands, 
and about the 5th of March, doubled 
the great promontory of 8 outh Ameri¬ 
ca, Cape Horn, and stood to the North¬ 
ward. 
We saw whales once only before we 
reached the Sandwich Islands, which we 
made on the first of May early in the 
morning. When drawing in with the 
