This Variation Had Never Been Observed Before, And Therefore Astonished The Admiral Greatly; And Still More So, Three Days After, When He Had Advanced 100 Leagues Farther To The Westwards, On Finding The Needle To Vary Two Points In The Evening, And To Point Directly North Next Morning.

On the night of Saturday the 15th September, being then near 300 leagues west from Ferro, they saw a

Flame of fire drop into the sea, four or five leagues S.W. from the ships, the weather being then calm, the sea smooth, and the current setting to the N.E. The people in the Ninna said they had seen some water-wagtails on the day before, at which they much admired, considering that these birds never go above fifteen or twenty leagues from land. On the next day, they were still more surprised at seeing some spots of green and yellow weeds on the surface of the sea, which seemed newly broken off from some island or rock. On Monday the 17th, they saw much more, and many concluded they were near land, more especially as a live grasshopper was seen on the weeds. Others of the companies alleged these weeds might come from banks or rocks under water, and the people, beginning to be afraid, muttered against the prosecution of the voyage. They now perceived that the water was not more than half as salt as usual, and that night they saw many tunny fishes, which followed so near the ships that a man belonging to the Ninna killed one with a harpoon.

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