Such Progress Did We Make, That At The
End Of Seven Days From The Time We Took The Breeze, On
Sunday, June 5th, we were in lat.
19° 29' S., and long. 118° 01' W.,
having made twelve hundred miles in seven days, very nearly
upon a taught bowline. Our good ship was getting to be herself
again, had increased her rate of sailing more than one-third since
leaving San Diego. The crew ceased complaining of her, and the
officers hove the log every two hours with evident satisfaction.
This was glorious sailing. A steady breeze; the light trade-wind
clouds over our heads; the incomparable temperature of the Pacific,
- neither hot nor cold; a clear sun every day, and clear moon and
stars each night; and new constellations rising in the south, and
the familiar ones sinking in the north, as we went on our course,
- "stemming nightly toward the pole." Already we had sunk the north
star and the Great Bear in the northern horizon, and all hands
looked out sharp to the southward for the Magellan Clouds, which,
each succeeding night, we expected to make. "The next time we see
the north star," said one, "we shall be standing to the northward,
the other side of the Horn." This was true enough, and no doubt it
would be a welcome sight; for sailors say that in coming home from
round Cape Horn, and the Cape of Good Hope, the north star is the
first land you make.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 433 of 618
Words from 118553 to 118803
of 170236
