He Thence Concluded That Their Whole Nights Course Was Only
Nine Hours, Or So Many Parts In Twenty-Four Of A Great Circle; And This He
Observed To Be The Case Regularly Every Night.
It was likewise noticed
that the compass varied a whole point to the N.W. at night-fall, and came
due north every morning at day-break.
As this unheard-of circumstance
confounded and perplexed the pilots, who apprehended danger in these
strange regions and at such unusual distance from home, the admiral
endeavoured to calm their fears by assigning a cause for this wonderful
phenomenon: He alleged that it was occasioned by the polar star making a
circuit round the pole, by which they were not a little satisfied.
Soon after sunrise on Monday the first of October, an alcatraz came to the
ship, and two more about ten in the morning, and long streams of weeds
floated from east to west. That morning the pilot of the admirals ship
said that they were now 578 leagues west from the island of Ferro. In his
public account the admiral said they were 584 leagues to the west; but in
his private journal he made the real distance 707 leagues, or 129 more
than was reckoned by the pilot. The other two ships differed much in their
computation from each other and from the admirals pilot. The pilot of Nina
in the afternoon of the Wednesday following said they had only sailed 540
leagues, and the pilot of the Pinta reckoned 634. Thus they were all much
short of the truth; but the admiral winked at the gross mistake, that the
men, not thinking themselves so far from home, might be the less dejected.
The next day, being Tuesday the second of October, they saw abundance of
fish, caught one small tunny, and saw a white bird with many other small
birds, and the weeds appeared much withered and almost fallen to powder.
Next day, seeing no birds, they suspected that they had passed between
some islands on both hands, and had slipped through without seeing them,
as they guessed that the many birds which they had seen might have been
passing from one island to another. On this account they were very earnest
to have the course altered one way or the other, in quest of these
imaginary lands: But the admiral, unwilling to lose the advantage of the
fair wind which carried him due west, which he accounted his surest course,
and afraid to lessen his reputation by deviating from course to course in
search of land, which he always affirmed that he well knew where to find,
refused his consent to any change. On this the people were again ready to
mutiny, and resumed their murmurs and cabals against him. But it pleased
God to aid his authority by fresh indications of land.
On Thursday the fourth of October, in the afternoon, above forty sparrows
together and two alcatrazes flew so near the ship that a seaman killed one
of them with a stone.
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