uite calm at the time, a gale sprung up immediately
afterwards, which eventually increased to a hurricane.

We were obliged to bear up, and for several days scudded under bare
poles, until I found that we were in the very centre of the Atlantic,
out of the track of any vessels. Gradually the weather became more
settled, and we again spread our canvas to the breeze. To my surprise,
I observed, that although by my reckoning we were nearly one thousand
miles from any land, several aquatic birds were hovering about the ship,
of a description that seldom go far from the shore. I watched them as
the sun went down, and perceived that they took their flight to the
south-east. Anxious to discover any land, not hitherto described, I
steered the ship in that direction during the night, and early on the
next morning we found ourselves close to an island, apparently ten or
fifteen miles long, very high, and of a conical shape, which I knew was
not laid down upon any chart. I resolved to examine it, and dropped my
anchor in a small bay, at the bottom of which a few houses announced
that it was inhabited; although I could not distinguish any thing like
guns or fortification. We had not furled our sails, when a boat shoved
off from the shore and pulled towards us. She soon came alongside, and
astonished us as much by the peculiarity of her structure, as by the
appearance of the people who were on board.

She was a wide canoe, very beautifully carved and inlaid, or rather
veneered, with gold ornaments. She had a flag, hoisted to a staff,
hanging over the stern, the field of which was white, with a
representation of a fountain, worked in gold thread, in the centre. The
three men who were in her, particularly the one seated in the stern
sheets, were very richly attired in dresses worked in gold thread. But
what astonished us more than all was the peculiarity of their
complexions, which, although they were very well-featured men, were of a
beautiful light blue--their eyes black, and their hair of a rich auburn.

The personage in the stern sheets ascended the side, and addressing me
in excellent Portuguese, inquired if I could speak the language.

I answered in the affirmative, and he then welcomed us in the name of
the king, upon my arrival at the island--asking me the number of my
crew, whether I had any sick on board, and many other particulars, all
of which he noted down upon tablets of gold, with a piece of red
cinnabar.