probability that one ship at least might escape, and be capable of
preserving or relieving the crew of the other.

During the remainder of April, we had generally hard gales, though
every day, since the 22d, edging to the northward. On the last day
of the month, however, we flattered ourselves with the expectation of
soon terminating our sufferings, as we then found ourselves in lat.
52 deg. 13' S. which, being to the northward of the Straits of Magellan,
we were now assured that we had completed our passage, and were
arrived on the confines of the South Sea: And, as this ocean is
denominated the _Pacific_, from the equability of the seasons said to
prevail there, and the facility and security with which navigation is
there carried on, we doubted not that we should be speedily cheered
with the moderate gales, the smooth water, and the temperate air, for
which that portion of the globe is so renowned. Under the influence of
these pleasing circumstances, we hoped to experience some compensation
for the complicated sufferings, which had so constantly beset us for
the last eight weeks. Yet here we were again miserably disappointed;
for, in the succeeding month of May, our sufferings rose even to a
much higher pitch than they had ever yet done, whether we consider the
violence of the storms, the shattering of our sails and rigging, or
the diminution and weakening of our crew by deaths and sickness, and
the even threatening prospect of our utter destruction. All this will
be sufficiently evident, from the following circumstantial recital of
our diversified misfortunes.

Soon after we had passed the Straits of Le Maire, the scurvy began
to make its appearance among us, and our long continuance at sea, the
fatigue we underwent, and the various disappointments we met with, had
occasioned its spreading to such a degree, that there were but few on
board, by the latter end of April, that were not afflicted with it in
some degree; and in that month no less than forty-three died of it in
the Centurion. Although we thought the distemper had then risen to
an extraordinary height, and were willing to hope that its malignity
might abate as we advanced to the northward, we yet found, on the
contrary, that we lost near double that number in the month of May;
and, as we did not get to land till the middle of June, the mortality
went on increasing, and so prodigiously did the disease extend, that,
after the loss of above 200 men, we could