23d. Being nearly in the latitude of the Western Isles, many on board were on the look-out for them, in the hopes of getting some fish and fruit, and sending letters to England; but we were disappointed, as we saw nothing of them.
24th. The ship's carpenter tried a girdle {6} made of tin, and water tight, called a life-preserver; he found he could not sink, but at the same time he could not make any way in the sea with it on.
25th. Early in the morning we got sight of the island of St. Mary's; it was seen at a great distance. We had seen no land since the 12th, when we last saw the coast of Cornwall. In the afternoon, we passed the island 15 or 18 miles to the north of us, so we did not get any fruit, to the great disappointment of many on board.
27th. The sea ran high, and once cleared the fore-part of the vessel of every thing that was moveable. When the waves broke over the deck, some of the passengers generally got a wetting, which caused a hearty laugh from those who escaped.
29th. At noon, by observation, we were in latitude 33 deg. 58 min. north, which is three degrees south of Cape Henry, at the entrance of Cheasepeake Bay, to which we were bound. The weather warm, though not more so than a fine May-day in {7} England, although we were upwards of a thousand miles south of it.
30th. Some of the passengers bathed, till one of them got stung in the leg by a sea-nettle, or what the sailors called a Portuguese man of war; he was in great agony, but by rubbing it with vinegar, the pain abated.
June 6th. There were four ships in sight in the morning, and in the afternoon another was seen, and, at four o'clock, she sent a boat, with an officer and five men. They proved to be Russians, from a frigate of thirty-six guns, the Kamtschatka, from Kamtschatka, and the north-west coast of America; they had been round Cape Horn in their way out, and returned by Manilla, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena, where only the captain was suffered to land. The inhabitants know but little of Bonaparte, as the governor was extremely jealous of all intercourse with his prisoner; most that they knew of him was from the English newspapers. {8} The officer eagerly enquired for news from Europe, they having been out two years. We gave him some English newspapers, and he in return took some letters for our English friends, as they intended to touch at some port in England, before they proceeded to Russia. The officer was regaled in the captain's cabin, and the men were treated with plum-pudding and strong beer, but they refused to taste it, till one of the passengers had first partaken of it; they then seemed to relish it extremely well. Some large fish and porpoises were seen round the ship, and two rifles were fired at them, without effect. A sea-snake was also seen in the evening, it appeared to be six or seven feet long.
7th. We saw some sea-weed that had much the appearance of the tops of dead juniper bushes, with many small berries on them; we took some pieces out of the sea, and found many little crabs in them, and a few small shrimps; the crabs from a quarter to two inches long. Most of the {9} passengers were now in good health. A pleasant evening, and the young people had a dance on the deck.
8th. Some dolphins taken by the sailors, with hooks and lines; they were from 18 to 30 inches long, and very beautiful fish. I bought one of the small ones, it weighed six or seven pounds, and proved very good eating.
9th. A small Swedish brig, the Dryade, sent a boat to enquire for a surgeon, their captain being ill; our surgeon went on board, and afterwards sent some medicines, for which, through a speaking trumpet, their captain thanked ours. They took some letters from us for England, as they proposed going thither, before they proceeded to Copenhagen. Our water being got very bad, it caused a little commotion on board, as there was but little water belonging to the captain. The passengers were found water by the person who chartered the Resolution; and the badness of {10} the water appeared to be occasioned by its being put into foul casks.