Page:Voyages in the Northern Pacific - 1896.djvu/40

22 Cape St. Vincent and Cape Pembroke form the entrance of this sound; the former is in the latitude of 51° 26′ south, and longitude 57° 54′ west; the latter, in latitude 51° 56′ south, and longitude 57° 54′ west; the sound is about three leagues deep and about three miles wide in the middle. Ships bound into this sound must give Cape St. Vincent a wide berth, on account of a reef that runs about a mile off the point; and it would be particularly advisable for such as are going round Cape Horn, to touch here in preference to calling at Rio de Janeiro.

We encountered very severe weather going round the cape; at times not more than six or eight men were able to stand the deck, from being continually wet and cold, and the schooner being so low that the sea was continually washing over her. On one occasion, April 14, 1814, she shipped a sea that washed the round-house clean from the deck, and filled the cabin: we had four feet of water in the hold, and in this gale carried away the foreyard, and split all our sails, so that, at one time, we had not a single sail that was fit to set. About the 18th of April, we doubled Cape Horn, and ran along shore to the northward, with a fine S. W. breeze. May 26th, John Jameson, the surgeon, departed this life, after a long illness: he was a native of Scotland, aged about 26 years. His body was committed to the deep with the usual ceremonies.

On the 22nd of May, we crossed the equinoctial line in the longitude of 109° 14′ west, with a strong breeze from E. S. E. and fine weather. Nothing