time the cold had been ſo conſiderable as to oblige our ſailors to take to their woollen clothes.
We had thought ourſelves ſure of meeting with eaſterly gales as we approached the Brazilian coaſt: they, however, blew from the eaſt; but having drawn aft, we were enabled to keep our ſails pretty full for the ſpace of a fortnight, till we were in 28° S, lat. and 24° W. long.
We might have expected in this latitude to meet with favourable winds for ſteering towards the Cape of Good Hope; but all the variation that took place was ſtill more to our diſadvantage.
On the 28th of December we had ſtill S.E. winds, though we were already beyond 29½° S. lat. The heat of the ſun having been for ſeveral months at its greateſt height in this hemiſphere, had changed the direction of the regular winds.
The length of our paſſage had reduced our allowance of water to one bottle a day.
As ſoon as the winds had veered from N.E. to N. the currents, which bore till then to the eaſt, became ſcarcely perceptible.
Though we were at ſo great a diſtance from the Cape of Good Hope, we obſerved a great number of albatroſſes (diomedea exulans.)
It is a remarkable circumſtance, that the variation of the magnetic needle is much greater to the ſouth of the Line, than it is to the north;
