It was, however, still
far distant, the soft perfume being merely drifted to us by the
wind. It was very remarkable that inside the ship this perfume was
not at all perceptible.
The sea itself was covered with innumerable dead butterflies and
moths, which had been carried out to sea by the storm. Two pretty
little birds, quite exhausted by their long flight, were resting
upon one of the yards.
For us, who, during two months and a half, had seen nothing but sky
and water, all these things were most satisfactory; and we looked
out anxiously for Cape Frio, which we were very near. The horizon,
however, was lowering and hazy, and the sun had not force enough to
tear the murky veil asunder. We looked forward with joy to the next
morning, but during the night were overtaken by another storm, which
lasted until 2 o'clock. The ship's course was changed, and she was
driven as far as possible into the open sea; so that, in the end, we
were glad enough to reach, the next day, the same position we had
occupied the morning before.
Today we caught no glimpse of land; but a few gulls and albatrosses
from Cape Frio warned us that we were near it, and afforded us some
little amusement. They swam close up to the ship's side, and
eagerly swallowed every morsel of bread or meat that was thrown to
them.
