t we had fine calm weather, and caught abundance of
_yellow-tails_, which swam about the vessel. This fish is about four
feet long, having twenty fins on its back; a middling one behind the
head, a large one on the middle of the back, and eighteen small ones
between that and the tail. It has a large fin on each side near the
gills, and thirteen under the belly, viz. a middling one under the
gills, a large one near the middle of the belly, which goes in with a
dent, and eleven small ones between that and the tail, which is yellow
and half-mooned. This fish has a very great head, with large eyes, and
is good eating, having no bones except the back-bone. It is all white,
except the tips of the fins and the tail, which, are yellow. These fish
were very acceptable to us, as we fed upon them for three days, saving
our other provisions. On the 3d February, five or six turtles came near
our bark, two of which we caught, which also served to save our scanty
store of provisions, which otherwise had not sufficed to keep us from
starving.

On the evening of the 3d February, having a brisk gale from the land at
N.E. we took our departure from _Mount St Miguel_ in the Gulf of
Amapalla, steering S.W. and S.S.W. till we were in the lat. of 10 deg. N.
when falling in with the tradewind, we set our course W.N.W. we then
made studding-sails to our main and main-top sails, which we hoisted
every morning at day-break, and hauling down at sun-set, as it commonly
blew so fresh in the night that we had usually to furl our top-sail; but
the wind commonly abated at sun-rise. During our whole voyage we
steadily adhered to the rule of diet we had laid down, the slenderness
of which may be judged of by the following particulars.

From the 3d of February to the end of that month, we fed entirely on
plantains, making two meals a day, and allowing two plantains to each
man for a meal. We had then recourse to our flour, of which half a pound
was allowed daily to each man, and two ounces every other day of salt
beef or pork; but the meat had been so long in salt, that it shrunk one
half when boiled, wherefore we concluded it was better to eat it raw,
which we did as long as it lasted. By the beginning of April that began
to fail, so that we were reduced to flour alone, which was sore spoiled,
being full of maggots, spiders, and other vermin, so that nothing but
the extremity of want could have induced us to eat it. It was surprising
to behold this stra