From the 20th of May till the 21st of June, we lay mostly becalmed, or with contrary winds at south; and, standing to and again to bear up against this contrary wind, we got with much ado to 2 deg.  N. where we espied a ship, to which the general gave chace, commanding all the ships to follow him.  By two in the afternoon we got up with and took her.  She was of Viana, in Portugal, and came from Lisbon, in company of two caraks and three galleons, bound for the East Indies, but had parted from them at sea.  The three galleons were ships of war, intended to keep the coast of India from being traded with by other nations.  From this ship we took 146 butts of wine, 176 jars and 12 casks of oil, and 55 hogsheads and vats of meal,[102] which were of great service to us afterwards during our voyage.  The general divided these victuals impartially among all the ships, giving a due proportion to each.

[Footnote 102:  Probably wheaten meal or flour.—­E.]

The 31st June about midnight we crossed the line, having the wind at S.E. and lost sight of the north star; and continuing our course S.S.W. we passed Cape St Augustine about 26 leagues to the eastward.  The 20th July, we reached the latitude of 19 deg. 40’ S. the wind getting daily more and more towards the east.  We here unloaded the Guest, which went along with us to carry such provisions as we could not stow in the other four ships; after which we took out her masts, sails, yards, and all other tackle; broke up her upper works for fire-wood, and left her hull floating in the sea, following our own course southwards.  We passed the tropic of Capricorn on the 24th July, the wind N.E. by N. our course E.S.E.  On account of our having been so long near the line, by reason of leaving England too late in the season by six or seven weeks, many of our men fell sick; for which reason the general sent written orders to the captain of each ship, either to make Saldanha bay or St Helena for refreshment.

The 1st August we were in 30 deg.  S. at which time we got the wind at S.W. to our great comfort, for by this time many of our men were sick of the scurvy; insomuch, that in all our ships, except the admiral, they were hardly able to manage the sails.  This wind held fair till we were within 250 leagues of the Cape of Good Hope, and then came clean contrary at E. continuing so for fifteen or sixteen days, to the great discomfort of our men; for now the few that had continued sound began also to fall sick, so that in some of the ships the merchants had to take their turn at the helm, and to go into the tops to hand the top-sails along with the common mariners.  But God, shewing us mercy in our distress, sent us again a fair wind, so that we got to Saldanha bay on the 9th September, when the general, before the other ships bore in and came to anchor, sent his boats to help the other ships.  The state of the other three ships was such that they were hardly able to let go their anchors.  The general went on board them all with a number of men, and hoisted out their boats for them, which they were not able to do of themselves.