Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/90

32 almost till four in the evening. As soon as the sea breeze came we filled our sails, and carrying the ship over the anchor, tripped it, but were obliged to sail back almost as far as we had towed the ship in the morning.

This day and yesterday the air was crowded in an uncommon manner with butterflies, chiefly of one sort, of which we took as many as we pleased on board the ship; their quantity was so large that at some times I may say many thousands were in view at once in almost any direction you could look, the greater part of them far above our mast-heads.

6th. No land breeze to-day, so we are confined in our disagreeable situation without a possibility of moving; many curses were this day expended on his Excellency.

7th. Weighed and stood out to sea. As soon as we came to Santa Cruz the pilot desired to be discharged, and with him our enemy the guard-boat went off, so we were left our own masters, and immediately resolved to go ashore on one of the islands in the mouth of the harbour. There was a great swell, but we made shift to land on one called Raza, on which we gathered many species of plants and some insects. Alströmeria Salsilla was here in tolerable plenty, and Amaryllis mexicana. We stayed until about four o'clock, and then came aboard the ship heartily tired, for the desire of doing as much as we could in a short time had made us all exert ourselves, though exposed to the hottest rays of the sun just at noon-day.

Now we are got fairly to sea, and have entirely got rid of these troublesome people, I cannot help spending some time in describing them, though I was not myself once in their town; yet my intelligence coming from Dr. Solander, and Mr. Monkhouse, our surgeon, a very sensible man, who was ashore every day to buy our provisions, I think cannot err much from truth.

The town of Rio Janeiro, the capital of the Portuguese dominions in America, is situate on the banks of the river of that name, and both are so called, I apprehend, from the Roman Saint Januarius, according to the Spanish and