Sunday Night We Had A Light,
Fair Wind, Which Set Us Up Again; And Having A Fine Sea-Breeze On
The first part of Monday, we had the prospect of passing, without
any trouble, Point Conception, - the Cape Horn of
California,
where it begins to blow the first of January, and blows all the
year round. Toward the latter part of the afternoon, however,
the regular northwest wind, as usual, set in, which brought in our
studding-sails, and gave us the chance of beating round the Point,
which we were now just abreast of, and which stretched off into the
Pacific, high, rocky and barren, forming the central point of the
coast for hundreds of miles north and south. A cap-full of wind
will be a bag-full here, and before night our royals were furled,
and the ship was laboring hard under her top-gallant sails. At eight
bells our watch went below, leaving her with as much sail as she
could stagger under, the water flying over the forecastle at every
plunge. It was evidently blowing harder, but then there was not a
cloud in the sky, and the sun had gone down bright.
We had been below but a short time, before we had the usual
premonitions of a coming gale: seas washing over the whole
forward part of the vessel, and her bows beating against them
with a force and sound like the driving of piles. The watch,
too, seemed very busy trampling about decks, and singing out at
the ropes.
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