Long Before Passing The Line, We Passengers Had Frequently Spoken Of All The Sufferings And Tortures We Should Be Subjected To At The Equator.

Every one had read or heard something exceedingly horrible, which he duly communicated to all the rest.

One expected headache or colic; a second had pictured to himself the sailors falling down from exhaustion; a third dreaded such a fearful degree of heat, that it would not only melt the pitch, {11} but would so dry up the ship, that nothing but continual throwing water over it could prevent its catching fire; while a fourth feared that all the provisions would be spoilt, and ourselves nearly starved to death.

For my own part, I had already congratulated myself on the tragical stories I should be able to present to my readers; I beheld them shedding tears at the narration of the sufferings we had experienced, and I already appeared to myself half a martyr. Alas! I was sadly deceived. We all remained in perfectly good health; not a sailor sank exhausted; the ship did not catch fire; and the provisions were not spoilt - they were just as bad as before.

3rd September. From 2 to 3 degrees South latitude the wind is very irregular, and frequently excessively violent. Today we passed the 8 degrees South latitude, without seeing land, which put the captain in the best of humours. He explained to us, that if we had seen land, we should have been obliged to retrace our course almost to the line, because the current sets in with such violence towards the land, that the voyage could only be made at a proper distance.

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