13th. Many flying fish seen; they flew from twenty to thirty yards at a time, some of them about the size of a herring, and others not larger than a chafer; when they rose near the vessel, the water that ran from them, had the appearance of a white string behind them; and when it ceased, they dropt into the sea again.
14th. We made 186 miles in 24 hours, being a great deal more than we had sailed, in the same space of time, since we left Cowes.
23d. We had a strong gale that blew down one of our sails.
26th. In the evening the main-sail boom broke, and spoiled a dance just began on deck. The accident was owing to the sailor at the helm being intoxicated, and letting the vessel get out of her course.
27th. All eagerly looking out for the gulf stream. In the evening we saw a sea-gull; {11} these birds are said never to fly far from land.
30th. We had a rough windy night, and it continued stormy through the day, and about six o'clock we had a tempest that split one of our sails. About noon we saw a ship that proved to be the Commodore Rogers, a pilot vessel of Baltimore, and from her we received a pilot, who informed us that Cape Henry, at the entrance of Cheasepeake Bay, was distant 25 miles. But a storm coming on, the wind changed just as we had sight of land, supposed to be Smith's Island, just at the entrance of the bay; this was the first land we saw after we lost sight of the island of St. Mary's.
July 1st. A wet night: we got upwards of 20 miles from Cape Henry. In the evening we again stood out to sea, the wind against us.
2d. In the evening, it being calm, we anchored two miles from Cape Henry light-house, and one mile and a half from the shore; which was very low land and covered {12} with trees to the water's edge, mostly pines of a barren appearance, resembling a furze hedge in the poor heaths of England. We had a good view of the shores for several miles. The weather being pleasant, there was a dance on deck; and as the night was calm and the moon shone brightly, it was kept up till a late hour.
3d. The captain and some passengers went on shore in a boat; when they returned, they brought on board a branch of wild vine, with some small grapes on it, a bough of myrtle, and some honeysuckles like the trumpet one in leaf and flower. They likewise brought some crab fish, of different sorts, unlike any I had ever seen before; one of them had a long tail, and was much larger than the rest; this the pilot called a sea-crab. They also brought a few sea-shells. The land, near the light-house, very sandy and barren, mostly covered with woods, composed chiefly of pines and a few oaks. The very little that was cultivated, was Indian corn.
{13} Cape Henry light-house is built of wood, and stands on the west side of the bay of Cheasepeake, and is in latitude 37 degrees north, longitude 85 degrees west. The bay, at its entrance, is upwards of 20 miles wide. On the opposite side is Cape Charles. At one o'clock we entered the bay opposite the mouth of James River.