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 rarefied 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 topgallant sail was split in pieces. Two circumstances struck me as remarkable this evening. First, that when the gale grew strong about sunset, the sky was clear in the wind's eye, while to leeward of us came a very heavy bank 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 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 manœuvres. We assembled to prayers at half-past ten o'clock with some difficulty; the crew all stood in conse

quence 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 answering difficulties, &c. The nights are now completely dark by six o'clock.

August 4-8.-I do not think that anything 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 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 non-existence 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 Atlantic, 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 seagull, 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 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 would have attended. Yet, when I consider how great difficulty I have always found in bringing men of the same age and rank to the sacrament at Hodnet, perhaps I have no reason to be surprised. On talking with one of the under officers in the evening, he told me that more would have staid if they had not felt shy, and been afraid of exciting the ridicule of their companions. The same feeling, I find, kept one at least, and perhaps more, of the young cadets and writers away, though of these there were only two or three absentees, the large majority joining in the ceremony with a seriousness which greatly pleased and impressed me.

And the same may be said of all the midshipmen who were old enough to receive it.-One of the young cadets expressed his regret to me that he had not been confirmed, but hoped that I should give him an oppor

and find everything true which had been reported.

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وو

August 11.-We had a good night, and a smooth though rapid progress. I had the happiness of hearing, for the first time, my dear little Emily repeat a part of the Lord's Prayer, which her mother has been, for some days past, engaged in teaching her. May He, who from the mouth of babes and sucklings' can bring forth His praise, inspire her heart with everything pure and holy, and grant her grace betimes, both to understand and love His name! After writing out my usual translation, I occupied myself during the morning in mastering, by help of Gilchrist's preposterously arranged vocabulary, some of the Hindoostanee poetry in his "Guide." I have thus more and more convinced myself that what is called the florid Eastern style is chiefly to be found in translations, and that the characteristics of the originals are often rather flatness and vapidity, than exuberance of ornament. But I really feel my liking for these studies increase as, by progress, they become less difficult. This is, however, too early a day for me to form any fixed opinion on either Hindoo or Persian literature.

August 14.-We passed some seaweed this morning, which was considered as a singular and perplexing occurrence, since no Saxenberg was ever suspected in our present neighbourhood. It probably came from Tristan d'Acunha. Several whales, some of them of a large size,played round the ship for above half an hour. I obtained a very favourable view of one of them, which struck me from its perfect resemblance to the grampus which I had seen before, both in shape and the colour and smoothness of its skin. The water which it blew through its nostrils appeared in a form something different from what I had expected. I had imagined, I hardly know why, that it was to be a small high slender jet-d'eau, whereas it escaped in a thick white cloud, like the steam from an engine, and with pretty nearly the same noise. I was pleased to witness the apparent happiness of these poor nimals, which were supposed to be two old ones with one or more young, and

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rejoiced that no southern whaler was in sight. While we were gazing at these leviathans, one of the midshipmen caught a sea-bird on a hook; it was said to be a Cape-hen" (I believe a gannet), a little larger than a large goose, with brown glossy feathers, large white eyes with black pupils, a broad yellow bill, very slender legs, broad webbed feet, and long wings resembling those of a kite. It bled a little, but seemed very slightly injured by the hook. When set down on the deck, it looked round without any appearance of fear, but endeavoured in vain to rise, its wings being too long to admit of its doing so from a plain and solid surface. Mr. Gresley took a drawing of it, after which it was, by the unanimous consent of the spectators, returned in safety to the sea. During its continuance on deck, it had shown marks of sickness, which Captain Manning said these birds generally did in such a situation; and even when in the water it seemed for some time a little languid. By degrees, however, it began to ply its web-feet and wings at the same time, and scudded rapidly over the surface of the calm sea, with a motion between flying and swimming. Nothing can be more genial than the climate of this day, or more resembling a fine May morning in England. The month, however, answers to our February; so that we may yet look for some bitter March winds before we shall have passed the Cape. In the evening another bird, of appearance nearly similar to the foregoing, but smaller, and with a more crooked beak, was caught, but, less fortunate than the other, was killed for the sake of having his skin stuffed. This last seems to be the bird called the sea-parrot.

August 15.-Another fine night. The wind has gone considerably astern of us, and studding sails are set on the foremast. Lat. 35° 20', east long. 1° 54'. Last night I believe we all thought much of home, as we passed (which occurred at about nine o'clock) the meridian of Greenwich. It was a pleasing, though almost painful task, to figure to ourselves the different employments of our friends in different places in England. God bless them! While our minds