re. When these animals come on shore in the night to lay their eggs,
the sailors turn them over on their backs till they have leisure to
carry them on board. These creatures will live above a month without
any kind of sustenance, having only a little salt water sprinkled
over them three or four times a-day. The sailors never weary of eating
them, believing that they make a perfect change of their juices,
freeing them entirely from the scurvy and other diseases of the blood.

As this island is a very miserable place to live in, it is common to
leave malefactors here when they do not incline to put them to death.
This was done not long before our author passed this way, to a Dutch
book-keeper, who was convicted of sodomy; though perhaps this may
be considered as a worse punishment even than death, considering the
miseries that must be endured in the hottest climate of the world, on
a place that does not afford even the slightest shelter. After leaving
this island, they began to approach the line, which they crossed
without feeling any excessive heat, as the sun was then towards the
north, and they had the benefit of pretty fresh gales, which moderated
the heat extremely. They now also began to see the north-star at
night, which they had not done for a year and a half and it is
impossible to express how much the seamen were rejoiced at this
circumstance.

Coming into the latitude of 18 deg. N. we found that part of the sea which
is generally so covered with grass that it looks at a distance like a
meadow. This grass has a yellowish cast, being hollow within, and on
being pressed it yields a clammy viscous juice. In some years none
of this grass appears, while in other years it is found in prodigious
quantities. Some imagine that it comes from the bottom of the sea, as
divers report that the bottom is in many places covered with grass and
flowers. Others conceive that it comes from the coast of Africa: But
our author disapproves both of these opinions, because, if it came
from the bottom, there is no reason why the same appearance should not
be found elsewhere; whereas, if it came from the coast of Africa, it
ought to be found in other situations, especially near that coast. His
opinion, therefore, is, that it comes from the coast of America, and
particularly from the Gulf of Bahama, or Mexico, where it is known
to grow in great abundance, and where, when it comes to maturity, it
breaks off; and is carried away by the curr