Of
N. latitude, and continued till we were two degrees to the south of the
equinoctial line, which we passed on the 28th of April.
The 19th of May,
being Whitsunday, we passed the tropic of Capricorn, so that we were
complete seven weeks under the torrid zone.
Almost every day, while between the tropics, we saw various kinds of
fish, in greater abundance than elsewhere. As the whale, or mighty
Leviathan, whom God hath created to take his pastime in the seas;
Dolphins also, and Albicores, with Bonitoes, flying-fishes, and many
others. Some whales were of an exceeding greatness, which, in calm
weather, would often rise and shew themselves above the water, appearing
like vast rocks; and, while rising, they would spout up a great quantity
of water into the air, with much noise, which fell down again around
them like heavy rain. The dolphin is called, from the swiftness of its
motion, the arrow of the sea. This fish differs from many others, in
having teeth on the top of its tongue. It is pleasing to the eye, the
smell, and the taste, having a changeable colour, finned like a roach,
covered with very small scales, giving out a delightful scent above all
other fishes, and is in taste as good as any. These dolphins are very
apt to follow our ships, not, so far as I think, from any love they bear
for men, as some authors write, but to feed upon what may be thrown
overboard. Whence it comes to pass that they often become food to us;
for, when they swim close by the ships, they are struck by a broad
instrument full of barbed points, called a harping-iron, to which a rope
is fastened, by which to pull the instrument and the fish on board. This
beautiful dolphin may be taken as an emblem of a race of men, who, under
sweet countenances, carry sharp tongues. The bonitoes and albicores are
much like our mackerels in colour, shape, and taste, but grow to a very
large size. The flying-fishes live the most unhappy lives of all others,
as they are persecuted in the water by the dolphins, bonitoes, and
albicores, and when they endeavour to escape from their enemies in the
water, by rising up in flight, they are assailed by ravenous fowls in
the air, somewhat like our kites, which hover over the water in waiting
for their appearance in the other element. These flying-fishes are like
men who profess two trades and thrive in neither.
Early in the morning of the 12th June, we espied our long-wished-for
harbour, the bay of Saldanha, [Table-bay] about twelve leagues short
from the Cape of Good Hope, into which we came happily to anchor that
same forenoon. We here found one of the Company's ships, the Lion,
commanded by Captain Newport, come from Surat, and homeward-bound for
England.
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