As this island is a very miserable place to live in, it is common to leave malefactors here when they do not incline to put them to death.  This was done not long before our author passed this way, to a Dutch book-keeper, who was convicted of sodomy; though perhaps this may be considered as a worse punishment even than death, considering the miseries that must be endured in the hottest climate of the world, on a place that does not afford even the slightest shelter.  After leaving this island, they began to approach the line, which they crossed without feeling any excessive heat, as the sun was then towards the north, and they had the benefit of pretty fresh gales, which moderated the heat extremely.  They now also began to see the north-star at night, which they had not done for a year and a half and it is impossible to express how much the seamen were rejoiced at this circumstance.

Coming into the latitude of 18 deg.  N. we found that part of the sea which is generally so covered with grass that it looks at a distance like a meadow.  This grass has a yellowish cast, being hollow within, and on being pressed it yields a clammy viscous juice.  In some years none of this grass appears, while in other years it is found in prodigious quantities.  Some imagine that it comes from the bottom of the sea, as divers report that the bottom is in many places covered with grass and flowers.  Others conceive that it comes from the coast of Africa:  But our author disapproves both of these opinions, because, if it came from the bottom, there is no reason why the same appearance should not be found elsewhere; whereas, if it came from the coast of Africa, it ought to be found in other situations, especially near that coast.  His opinion, therefore, is, that it comes from the coast of America, and particularly from the Gulf of Bahama, or Mexico, where it is known to grow in great abundance, and where, when it comes to maturity, it breaks off; and is carried away by the currents.[2]

[Footnote 2.  In the old Portuguese maps and voyages, this part of the Atlantic is called Mar de Sargasso, or the Sea of Cresses; Sargasso signifying water-cresses, which these weeds which spread over the sea nearly resemble.—­Harris.]

Nothing is more difficult than to account for the motion and course of currents in the ocean, which, in some places, run for six months in one direction, and six in another, while in other places they run always one way.  There are instances also where they run one way for a day or two after full moon, and then run strongly in the opposite direction till next full moon.  Seamen also observe, that in places where the trade-winds blow, the currents are generally influenced by them, moving the same way with the winds, but not with equal force in all places; neither are they so discernible in the wide ocean, but chiefly about islands, where their effects are more or less felt according as they are influenced by being more