IMPRESSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS AT SEA. REMARKS ON VOYAGE FROM BAHIA TO THE CAPE.
August 25.
Re-embarked in the Beagle and sailed for the Cape of Good Hope.
September 10.
We had yesterday and all last night a gale of wind, succeeded this day by a heavy fall of rain. The wind had raised a very high sea, but when the rain began to fall I heard the captain and several of the officers remark that the rain would lay the sea; for the result of their experience was, "that a fall of rain always beats the sea down." What they had stated would occur took place in this instance within two or three hours. This shows forcibly what great results a slight force, continued for a long time, will produce.
September 15.
Whilst standing on the deck of the Beagle this evening we remarked large luminous spots in the water. They appeared to be about 12 inches in circumference, were very numerous, and perfectly stationary. The light they emitted was phosphorescent, but far brighter than I had ever before witnessed; it was so vivid as to be distinctly visible for nearly a quarter of a mile.
September 16.
We saw this morning an immense number of fin-backed whales, some of which were quite close to the vessel. In the course of half an hour I counted thirty of them. Could they have been feeding on the phosphorescent animals we saw last night?
We are today about 600 miles from the Cape, and there is a strange discordance amongst the elements. From the south-west comes a long and heavy swell; a strong breeze is blowing from the east, and threatening clouds spring upwards from the north. These omens have a meaning. Down to the southward, somewhere off Cape Horn, there blows a furious gale. The wind will draw round shortly to the northward. That is the interpretation and the reading.