For my own part, I had already congratulated myself on the tragical stories I should be able to present to my readers; I beheld them shedding tears at the narration of the sufferings we had experienced, and I already appeared to myself half a martyr.  Alas!  I was sadly deceived.  We all remained in perfectly good health; not a sailor sank exhausted; the ship did not catch fire; and the provisions were not spoilt—­they were just as bad as before.

3rd September.  From 2 to 3 degrees South latitude the wind is very irregular, and frequently excessively violent.  Today we passed the 8 degrees South latitude, without seeing land, which put the captain in the best of humours.  He explained to us, that if we had seen land, we should have been obliged to retrace our course almost to the line, because the current sets in with such violence towards the land, that the voyage could only be made at a proper distance.

7th September.  Between 10 and 20 degrees South latitude we again met with very peculiar prevalent winds.  They are called vamperos; and oblige the sailor to be always on his guard, as they spring up very suddenly, and are often extremely violent.  We were overtaken by one during the night, but, luckily, it was not of the worst kind.  In a few hours it had entirely passed over, but the sea did not become calm again for a considerable time.

On the 9th and 11th of September, we encountered some short gusts of the vamperos, the most violent being the last.

12th and 13th of September.  The first was termed by the captain merely “a stiffish breeze;” but the second was entered in the log {12} as “a storm.”  The stiffish breeze cost us one sail; the storm, two.  During the time it lasted, the sea ran so high, that it was with the greatest difficulty we could eat.  With one hand we were obliged to grasp the plate, and at the same time to hold fast on to the table, while, with the other, we managed, with considerable difficulty, to convey the food to our mouth.  At night, I was obliged to “stow” myself firmly in my berth with my cloaks and dresses, to protect my body from being bruised black and blue.

On the morning of the 13th, I was on deck at break of day.  The helmsman led me to the side of the vessel, and told me to hold my head overboard, and inhale the air.  I breathed a most beautiful perfume of flowers.  I looked round in astonishment, and imagined that I must already be able to see the land:  it was, however, still far distant, the soft perfume being merely drifted to us by the wind.  It was very remarkable that inside the ship this perfume was not at all perceptible.

The sea itself was covered with innumerable dead butterflies and moths, which had been carried out to sea by the storm.  Two pretty little birds, quite exhausted by their long flight, were resting upon one of the yards.