On Friday The Twenty-Eighth All The Vessels Took Some Of The Fishes With
Gilt Backs; And On Saturday The
Twenty-ninth they saw a rabo de junco,
which, although a sea-fowl, never rests on the waves, but always
Flies in
the air, pursuing the alcatrazes till it causes them to mute for fear,
which it catches in the air for nourishment. Many of these birds are said
to frequent the Cape de Verd islands. They soon afterwards saw two other
alcatrazes, and great numbers of flying-fishes. These last are about a
span long, and have two little membranous wings like those of a bat, by
means of which they fly about a pike-length high from the water and a
musket-shot in length, and sometimes drop upon the ships. In the afternoon
of this day they saw abundance of weeds lying in length north and south,
and three alcatrazes pursued by a rabo de junco.
On the morning of Sunday the thirtieth of September four rabo de juncos
came to the ship; and from so many of them coming together it was thought
the land could not be far distant, especially as four alcatrazes followed
soon afterwards. Great quantities of weeds were seen in a line stretching
from W.N.W. to E.N.E. and a great number of the fishes which are called
Emperadores, which have a very hard skin and are not fit to eat. Though
the admiral paid every attention to these indications, he never neglected
those in the heavens, and carefully observed the course of the stars.
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