he wind being variable, we tacked
occasionally. Our latitude was 27 deg. 19' south, and the
longitude 48 deg. 21' west. 'Till the 17th, we had light winds,
chiefly from the north-east quarter, and fine clear weather; the
wind then shifted to the westward, with frequent squalls and
heavy showers of rain. The latitude, at noon, was 29 deg. 27'
south, and 41 deg. 14' west longitude. On the 20th, we had the
ship well cleaned between decks, and thoroughly washed with
vinegar. The variation of the compass was 4 deg. 40'
easterly.

At noon on the 21st, a severe squall came on, attended with
thunder, and very heavy rain; the wind all round the compass:
this occasioned us to clew up the top-sails, and reef the
foresail; however, towards evening, the weather growing more
moderate we set the top-sails.

We opened a cask of beef on the 22d, which was marked R. H.
N deg. 72, and was received from the commissary at the
victualling-office, Port Jackson: it contained sixty-six double
pieces, which was four double pieces short of the number there
ought to have been.

During the 23d and 24th, we had light easterly winds, with
intervening calms, and dark cloudy weather, attended with rain.
On the 25th, in latitude 26 deg. 13' south, and 31 deg. 33' east
longitude, we found 1 deg. 22' easterly variation; and on the
27th the variation was 00 deg. 45' westerly; the latitude being
22 deg. 32' south, and the longitude 29 deg. 03' west. I ordered
the cables to be hauled up, the tier to be well cleaned, and
washed with vinegar. The wind now hauled to the westward, with a
moderate breeze and clear weather. On the 28th, the wind shifted
to the northward, and at one o'clock in the morning of the 29th,
a very severe squall came on from north-north-east, attended with
heavy rain: soon after day-light, the weather moderated.

We now had a settled easterly wind and fine weather, until the
morning of the 6th of March, when the wind blew strong and in
squalls, and continued very unsettled till the afternoon of the
7th, when it grew moderate. The latitude was 14 deg. 26' south,
and the longitude 23 deg. 02' west. On the 12th, we were in
02 deg. 11' south latitude, and 25' 16" west longitude, and in
the afternoon we saw a sail to the northward; we bore up and
spoke her; she proved to be the Cleopatra, of Boston, bound to
Calcutta. I ordered the jolly-boat to be hoisted out and sent on
board her; at six o'clock the boat returned, we got her on board