About Noon The Next Day, The Rain Poured Down
Upon Us, Not In Drops But In Streams.
The wind, at the same time, was
variable and squally, which obliged the people to attend the decks, so that
few in the ships escaped a good soaking.
We, however, benefited by it, as
it gave us an opportunity of filling all our empty water-casks. This heavy
rain at last brought on a dead calm, which continued twenty-four hours,
when it was succeeded by a breeze from S.W. Betwixt this point and S. it
continued for several days; and blew at times in squalls, attended with
rain and hot sultry weather. The mercury in the thermometers at noon, kept
generally from 79 to 82.[6]
On the 27th, spoke with Captain Furneaux, who informed us that one of his
petty officers was dead. At this time we had not one sick on board,
although we had every thing of this kind to fear from the rain we had had,
which is a great promoter of sickness in hot climates. To prevent this, and
agreeable to some hints I had from Sir Hugh Palliser and from Captain
Campbell, I took every necessary precaution by airing and drying the ship
with fires made betwixt decks, smoaking, &c. and by obliging the people to
air their bedding, wash and dry their clothes, whenever there was an
opportunity. A neglect of these things causeth a disagreeable smell below,
affects the air, and seldom fails to bring on sickness, but more especially
in hot and wet weather.
We now began to see some of those birds which are said never to fly far
from land; that is, man-of-war and tropic birds, gannets, &c. No land,
however, that we knew of, could be nearer than eighty leagues.
On the 3Oth at noon, being in the latitude of 2 deg. 35' N., longitude 7 deg. 30'
W., and the wind having veered to the east of south, we tacked and
stretched to the S.W. In the latitude of 0 deg. 52' N., longitude 9 deg. 25' W., we
had one calm day, which gave us an opportunity of trying the current in a
boat. We found it set to the north one-third of a mile an hour. We had
reason to expect this from the difference we frequently found between the
observed latitude, and that given by the log; and Mr Kendal's watch shewed
us that it set to the east also. This was fully confirmed by the lunar
observations; when it appeared that we were 3 deg. 0' more to the east than the
common reckoning. At the time of trying the current, the mercury in the
thermometer in the open air stood at 75-1/2; and when immerged in the
surface of the sea, at 74; but when immerged eighty fathoms deep (where it
remained fifteen minutes) when it came up, the mercury stood at 66.[7] At
the same time we sounded, without out finding the bottom, with a line of
two hundred and fifty fathoms.
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