Intolerable tempest for other ships, making them furl all
their sails, those large ships display their sails to the wind and sail
excellent well, unless the waves be too furious, which seldom happened
in our voyage. You must understand that, when once past the line, they
cannot go direct for the Cape the nearest way, but, according to the
wind, must hold on as near south as they can till in the latitude of the
Cape, which is 35 deg. 30' S. They then shape their course to the east, and
so get round the Cape. But the wind so served us at 33 degrees, that we
directed our course thence for the Cape.
[Footnote 399: Otherwise called, by the English sailors, a Portuguese
man-of-war. - E.]
[Footnote 400: The Cape of Good Hope must be here meant. - E.]
You know that it is hard to sail from east to west, or the contrary,
because there is no fixed point in all the sky by which they can direct
their course, wherefore I shall tell you what help God hath provided to
direct them. There is not a fowl that appeareth, neither any sign in the
air or in the sea, that have not been written down by those who have
formerly made these voyages; so that partly by their own experience,
judging what space the ship was able to make with such and such a wind,
and partly by the experience of others recorded in the books of
navigations which they have, they guess whereabouts they may be in
regard to longitude, for they are always sure as to latitude.
