[92]. Dampier’s Voyages, vol. iii. p. 10.
[93]. On the 18th, I sunk a bucket with a thermometer seventy fathoms below the surface of the sea, where it remained two minutes; and it took three minutes more to haul it up. The mercury in the thermometer was at 66, which before, in the air, stood at 78, and in the surface of the sea at 79. The water which came up in the bucket contained, by Mr. Cavendish’s table, 1⁄25, 7 part salt; and that at the surface of the sea 1⁄29, 4. As this last was taken up after a smart shower of rain, it might be lighter on that account. Captain Cook’s log-book.
[94]. The particulars are mentioned in his log-book. On the 14th of August, a fire was made in the well, to air the ship below. On the 15th, the spare-sails were aired upon deck, and a fire made to air the sail-room. On the 17th, cleaned and smoked betwixt decks, and the bread-room aired with fires. On the 21st, cleaned and smoked betwixt decks; and on the 22d, the men’s bedding was spread on deck to air.
[95]. The afternoon, as appears from Mr. Anderson’s Journal, was spent in performing the old and ridiculous ceremony of ducking those who had not crossed the equator before. Though Captain Cook did not suppress the custom, he thought it too trifling to deserve the least mention of it in his Journal, or even in his log-book. Pernetty, the writer of Bougainville’s Voyage to the Falkland Islands, in 1763 and 1764, thought differently; for his account of the celebration of this childish festival on board his ship, is extended through seventeen pages, and makes the subject of an entire chapter, under the title of Baptême de la Ligne.
It may be worth while to transcribe his introduction to the description of it. “C’est un usage qui ne remonte pas plus haut que ce voyage célébre de Gama, qui a fourni au Camoens le sujet de la Lusiade. L’Idée qu’on ne sçauroit être un bon marin, sans avoir traversé l’Equateur, l’ennui inséparable d’une longue navigation, un certain esprit republicain qui regne dans toutes les petites societés, peut-être toutes ces causes reunies, on pu donner naissance à ces especes de saturnales. Quoiqu’il en soit, elles furent adoptées, en un instant, dans toutes les nations, et les hommes les plus eclairés furent obligés de se soumettre à une coutume dont ils reconnoissoient l’absurdité. Car, partout, des que le peuple parle, il faut que le sage se mette à l’unison.” Histoire d’un Voyage aux Isles Malouines, p. 107, 108.
[96]. See vol. IV. p. 252.
[97]. P. 11.
[98]. See Hawkesworth’s Collection of Voyages, vol. ii. p. 15.
[99]. “The most remarkable thing in the Cape sheep, is the length and thickness of their tails, which weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds. The fat is not so tallowish as that of European mutton, and the poorer sort use it for butter.” Kolben’s Cape of Good Hope [English translation], vol. ii. p. 65. De la Caille, who finds every thing wrong in Kolben, says, the weight of the tails of the Cape sheep is not above five or six pounds. Voyage de la Caille, p. 343. If the information given to Captain Cook may be depended upon, it will prove that, in this instance at least, Kolben is unjustly accused of exaggeration.
[100]. In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxvi. p. 268 to 319, is an Account of Three Journies from the Cape Town into the Southern parts of Africa, in 1772, 1773, and 1774; by Mr. Francis Masson, who had been sent from England for the discovery of new plants, towards the improvement of the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew. Much curious information is contained in Mr. Masson’s account of these journies. M. de Pagés, who was at the Cape in 1773, gives some remarks on the state of that settlement, and also the particulars of his journey from False Bay to the Cape Town. Voyage vers le Pole du Sud, p. 17 to 32.