_Wednesday, November 22nd_.--Between 2 and 3 a.m. a nice breeze sprang
up, and between 3 and 4.30 a.m. all the fore-and-aft sails were again
set. It was deliciously cool on deck at that time; but the sun rose
fierce and hot, and more or less killed the breeze as the day wore on.

_Thursday, November 23rd_.--Twenty-four days out. We had hoped to
reach Tahiti to-day, and Tom begins to regret that he did not steam
some distance out from Valparaiso, so as to pick up the trades sooner.
Still it is satisfactory to know how well the 'Sunbeam' can and does
sail against light contrary winds, and to have an opportunity of
developing some of her good points, of which we were previously hardly
aware. How she manages to slip along as she does, four or five knots
an hour, with not sufficient wind to blow a candle out, is a marvel to
every one on board. More than once, when the hand-log has shown that
we were going five knots, I have carried a naked light from one end of
the deck to the other without its being extinguished.

The sunrise was magnificent, and a splendid albatross, the largest we
have yet seen, was at the same time visible in mid-air, floating
against the rose-coloured clouds. He looked so grand, and calm, and
majestic, that one could almost fancy him the bird of Jove himself,
descending direct from the sun. Where do these birds rest? How far and
how fast do they really fly? are questions for the naturalist. We have
seen them many times at a distance of at least two thousand miles from
the nearest land.

About nine o'clock there was a slight breeze, but it fell as the sun
rose, and the day was intensely hot.