Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 5.djvu/250

240 side of Albemarle Island, so near as to ascertain that it was inhabited, from seeing lights upon it after dark; some blue lights which were sent off from our ship were also answered, but instead of being able to land, we were suddenly driven off the shore by a tremendous thunder storm. Never did I witness anything equal in grandeur and singularity to the vividness and curious forms of the flashes of lightning; four tons of water were obtained from the sails and deck, which proved a most acceptable relief to us, increasing our allowance, and enabling us to wash our clothes. The remainder of our voyage within the tropics was attended with variable winds, frequent rain, and almost nightly storms of thunder and lightning. In latitude 34 degrees north, I caught an undescribed species of Albatross, akin to Diomedea fuliginosa, but a smaller and less powerful bird. The D. exulans, as found in the higher latitudes of the Pacific, is much smaller than it is in the Southern Hemisphere, and will probably prove a distinct, species. Our second mate, who kindly assisted me in taking these birds (and, as I mentioned before, they can only be captured in the most stormy weather), fell upon the wet deck, being driven down by the violence of the gale, and fractured his thigh so severely as to suffer most dreadful torture for several succeeding weeks.

On the 12th of February we were in the latitude of the Columbia River, longitude 136 degrees west, but the weather was so boisterous, with such a tremendously heavy sea running, that we were obliged to lay to, day after day. endeavoring repeatedly to enter, for six weeks, up to the 1st of April, and suffered more storms than we had done during the whole of our previous voyage of eight months. On the 3rd of April we saw Cape Disappointment twenty-eight miles ahead, and were approaching it with a fair breeze when a strong westerly wind again drove us out to sea; a second attempt was made three days after, when we got within four miles, but with no better success. In short, we could declare the hurricanes of Northwest America to be a thousand times worse than those of the noted Cape Horn. In this latitude there is abundance of a small species of Physalis, of a transparent