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be such as to conduce to His glory, and to my own salvation through His Son!

July 30.-Our progress again good. The weather continues pleasant and remarkably cool for the latitude. The wind brisk and sea rough. The evenings now shut in very soon; and, even at tea, it is necessary to have the lamps lighted in the cuddy.

·July 31.—Our latitude this day was 12° 54′. A fine run, and one of the longest which Captain Manning remembers making in this part of the voyage. Yet, which is remarkable, all the vessels, the track of which is pricked on his great chart, appear to have made their longest run nearly in the same latitude. Captain Manning thinks that the strength of the wind in this particular part of the ocean is occasioned by the projection of South America, and the rarified state of the air over so large a tract of land within the tropics.

August 1.-The wind became very high towards night, and the main top-gallant sail was split in pieces. Two circumstances struck me as remarkable this evening. First, that when the gale grew strong about sun-set, the sky was clear in the wind's while to leeward of us, came a very heavy bank eye, of clouds, which retained its figure and position as steadily as if it were land. The second that, every now and then, there was a total cessation of wind, a lull, as the seamen called it, for two or three minutes, after which the gale revived with more

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vehemence. Both these features were pointed out to me as indications of the gale being likely to continue for some time and to be serious. We have, however, reason to be thankful that except a good deal of tossing, no harm occurred; nor did the gale increase to such a degree as to become alarming to those who were least accustomed to the sea.

August 3.—Our day again fine, and the gale at first hardly exceeded a stiff breeze. In the course of the afternoon, however, the wind again rose. The sea was very high, and the motion of the ship great and troublesome, pitching, rolling, and performing all sorts of manoeuvres. We assembled to prayers at half-past-ten o'clock with some difficulty; the crew all stood in consequence of the inconvenience of arranging the spars as usual, and I therefore made the service shorter. Instead of a Sermon, I gave notice of a Communion for the following Sunday; and, in a short address, enforced the propriety and necessity of attendance on that ordinance, and answered difficulties, &c. The nights are now completely dark by six o'clock.

August 4-8.-I do not think that any thing very material has occurred during these days. The wind has varied in our favour, and is now N.E. by E. which enables us to make a good deal of easting, and our course is regarded as a very good one. Our progress through the water has been rapid; at an average, during the last three days, of seven and a half knots an hour, and to-day frequently

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ten and eleven. The motion is, of course, considerable, but the weather is very delightful. Yesterday was downright March weather, while to-day has all the freshness, mildness, and beauty of an English May. Great numbers of birds are seen round the ship, and we are told that, as we approach the Cape, their numbers will increase daily. Those called " Cape Pigeons" are very pretty, not unlike the land bird, the name of which they bear, and which they are said to resemble in flavour. For these last three days, the existence or nonexistence of the island of Saxenberg, has been a frequent topic of conversation. Captain Manning and his officers evidently incline to the affirmative, on the ground that it is more probable that a small isle, a little out of the usual track, should have escaped general notice, than that three different captains of vessels should have told a deliberate falsehood without any apparent motive. That a brig sent out to ascertain the fact should have failed in making the discovery, they do not regard as at all extraordinary. They quote repeated instances of vessels from India having failed to find St. Helena; and I think I can perceive that they do not rate the nautical science of many commanders in the Navy very highly. They admit, however, that if Saxenberg Island exists at all, it must be set down wrong in all the charts, and in the reckonings of its pretended discoverers; and that if ever met with again, it must be by accident. This, they say, will be the less likely, because delusive appearances of land are so common in these latitudes of the At

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lantic, that a real island, if seen, would be very likely to pass, among the rest, as a fog-bank, while the prevailing winds generally confine vessels to one or the other of two courses, according as they are outward or homeward bound; so that, in fact, abundance of unexplored room still exists, and is likely to exist, in the southern Atlantic, for two or three such islands as this is represented to be. Captain Manning says that he always, if he finds himself at all near the supposed situation, keeps a good look-out. He says that all the older charts, particularly the Dutch, abound in islets, rocks, and shoals, the very existence of which is now more than doubtful. Some of these dangers he conceives to have been fog-banks, some to have been a repetition of those named elsewhere, but of which the site had been mistaken; others, however, he thinks, were pious frauds, inserted on purpose to make young mariners look about them.

August 9.-This morning I saw, or thought I saw, a common white sea-gull, a bird in which I could hardly be mistaken, and which, in size and other respects, sufficiently differs from the Cape pigeons. It, however, rarely goes far from land, and is therefore considered as a presumption that Saxenberg really exists somewhere in the neighbourhood. Nor is this all; one of the crew saw this morning a piece of sea-weed, and two of the passengers a large crab, both equally strong evidences of such a vicinity. From that vicinity, however, we are fast proceeding; and this, if Saxenberg

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exists, is probably all that we shall see of it. While such a topic, however, was under discussion, we almost overlooked, (what else would have drawn general attention,) that the first albatross which we have seen, made its appearance to-day, sailing majestically around us on its wide dusky wings, unquestionably one of the largest birds which I ever saw. During these last two nights the motion of the vessel was so violent as to throw my cot far beyond its usual bounds, against the cabin-lockers and chest of drawers. After several rude shocks of this kind, I unhooked and stretched it on the deck; but even there, the inclination of the ship was such, that I had some difficulty in keeping myself and my bed from parting company, and slipping or rolling to leeward.

August 10.-Last night I again slept on the floor, and passed it still more uncomfortably than on former occasions, insomuch that I almost determined rather to run the risk of blows and bruises aloft, than to encounter the discomforts of the new method. This morning, however, the wind became again moderate, and I finished and preached my sermon, and, afterwards, administered the sacrament to about twenty-six or twenty-seven persons, including all the ladies on board, the captain, and the greater part of the under officers and male passengers, but, alas! only three seamen. This last result disappointed me, since I had hoped, from their attention to my sermons, and the general decency of their conduct and appearance, that more

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