For A Week Or Ten Days After Crossing The Line, We Had The Usual
Variety Of Calms, Squalls, Head Winds,
And fair winds; - at one
time braced sharp upon the wind, with a taught bowline, and in
an hour after,
Slipping quietly along, with a light breeze over
the taffrail, and studding-sails out on both sides; - until we fell
in with the north-east trade-winds; which we did on the afternoon of
Sunday, August 28th, in lat. 12° N. The trade-wind clouds had been
in sight for a day or two previously, and we expected to take them
every hour. The light southerly breeze, which had been blowing
languidly during the first part of the day, died away toward noon,
and in its place came puffs from the north-east, which caused us
to take our studding-sails in and brace up; and in a couple of
hours more, we were bowling gloriously along, dashing the spray
far ahead and to leeward, with the cool, steady north-east trades,
freshening up the sea, and giving us as much as we could carry
our royals to. These winds blew strong and steady, keeping us
generally upon a bowline, as our course was about north-north-west;
and sometimes, as they veered a little to the eastward, giving us
a chance at a main top-gallant studding-sail; and sending us well
to the northward, until -
Sunday, Sept. 4th, when they left us, in lat. 22° N., long. 51° W.,
directly under the tropic of Cancer.
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