e alcatrases. Many of these birds are said to frequent
the Cape de Verd Islands. They soon afterward saw two other alcatrases
and great numbers of flying-fishes. These last are about a span long, and
have two little membranous wings like those of a bat, by means of which
they fly about a pike-length high from the water and a musket-shot in
length, and sometimes drop upon the ships. In the afternoon of this day
they saw abundance of weeds lying in length north and south, and three
alcatrases pursued by a rabo-de-junco.

On the morning of Sunday, September 30th, four rabo-de-juncos came to the
ship; and from so many of them coming together it was thought the land
could not be far distant, especially as four alcatrases followed soon
afterward. Great quantities of weeds were seen in a line stretching from
west-north-west to east-north-east, and a great number of the fishes
which are called _emperadores_, which have a very hard skin and are not
fit to eat. Though the admiral paid every attention to these indications,
he never neglected those in the heavens, and carefully observed the
course of the stars. He was now greatly surprised to notice at this time
that Charles' Wain, or the Ursa Major constellation, appeared at night
in the west, and was north-east in the morning. He thence concluded that
their whole night's course was only nine hours, or so many parts in
twenty four of a great circle; and this he observed to be the case
regularly every night. It was likewise noticed that the compass varied
a whole point to the northwest at nightfall, and came due north every
morning at daybreak. As this unheard-of circumstance confounded and
perplexed the pilots, who apprehended danger in these strange regions and
at such unusual distance from home, the admiral endeavored to calm their
fears by assigning a cause for this wonderful phenomenon. He alleged that
it was occasioned by the polar star making a circuit round the pole, by
which they were not a little satisfied.

Soon after sunrise on Monday, October 1st, an alcatras came to the ship,
and two more about ten in the morning, and long streams of weeds floated
from east to west. That morning the pilot of the admiral's ship said that
they were now five hundred seventy-eight leagues west from the island
of Ferro. In his public account the admiral said they were five hundred
eighty-four leagues to the west; but in his private journal he made the
real distance seven hundred seven leag