The night before, the sun set in a black cloud, which appeared just like land, and the clouds above it were gilded of a dark red colour.  And on the Tuesday, as the sun drew near the horizon, the clouds were gilded very prettily to the eye, though at the same time my mind dreaded the consequences of it.  When the sun was now not above 2 degrees high it entered into a dark smoky-coloured cloud that lay parallel with the horizon, from whence presently seemed to issue many dusky blackish beams.  The sky was at this time covered with small hard clouds (as we call such a lie scattering about, not likely to rain) very thick one by another; and such of them as lay next to the bank of clouds at the horizon were of a pure gold colour to 3 or 4 degrees high above the bank.  From these to about 10 degrees high they were redder and very bright; above them they were of a darker colour still, to about 60 or 70 degrees high, where the clouds began to be of their common colour.  I took the more particular notice of all this because I have generally observed such coloured clouds to appear before an approaching storm:  and, this being winter here and the time for bad weather, I expected and provided for a violent blast of wind by reefing our topsails, and giving a strict charge to my officers to hand them or take them in if the wind should grow stronger.  The wind was now at west-north-west a very brisk gale.  About 12 o’clock at night we had a pale whitish glare in the north-west which was another sign, and intimated the storm be near at hand; and, the wind increasing upon it, we presently handed our topsails, furled the mainsail, and went away only with our foresail.  Before 2 in the morning it came on very fierce, and we kept right before wind and sea, the wind still increasing:  but the ship was very governable, and steered incomparably well.  At 8 in the morning we settled our foreyard, lowering it 4 or 5 foot, and we ran very swiftly; especially when the squalls of rain or hail from a black cloud came overhead, for then it blew excessive hard.  These, though they did not last long, yet came very thick and fast one after another.  The sea also ran very high; but we running so violently before wind and sea we shipped little or no water; though a little washed into our upper deck ports; and with it a scuttle or cuttlefish was cast up on the carriage of a gun.

The wind blew extraordinary hard all Wednesday the 7th of June but abated of its fierceness before night:  yet it continued a brisk gale till about the 16th, and still a moderate one till the 19th day; by which time we had run about 600 leagues:  for the most part of which time the wind was in some point of the west, namely from the west-north-west to the south by west.  It blew hardest when at west or between the west and south-west, but after it veered more southerly the foul weather broke up:  this I observed at other times also in these seas, that when the storms at west veered to the southward they grew less; and