that one may obſerve him ſtrike the air with the lowermoſt wing, by which his body is immediately inclined in the oppoſite direction.
We were ſteering our courſe S.E.E. in order to paſs between the iſlands of St. Paul and Amſterdam; but the wind having ſhifted to S.E. we were obliged to tack S.S.W.
7th. About nine o'clock in the evening, as we were in lat. 34° 45′ S. and long. 44° 5′ E. the wind ſmelt very ſtrong of ſea-water. Had we been ſailing in parts leſs known than theſe, we ſhould have had reaſon to apprehend that we were very near to ſome iſland. It is probable that the ſmell proceeded from a quantity of fucus detached from the ſouth coaſt of Madagaſcar, and carried a great way into the ſea by the currents.
One of our ſailors, in a fit of drunkenneſs, threw himſelf into the ſea. As the weather happened very fortunately to be calm he was taken up and put on board; but this immerſion only increaſed his drunkenneſs, and he would have thrown himſelf again into the water if he had not been held faſt.
We continued for twelve days with ſlight breezes that ſhifted from S.S.W. to N.N.W. veering round by E. to direct our courſe, as near as poſſible, ſo as to paſs between the iſlands of
Amſterdam
