east, that they may continue in a variable winds way; and not venture too
soon to stand so far to the north as to be within the verge of the
tradewind, which will put them by their easterly course. The wind
increased upon us; but we had yet sight of the Antelope, and of the land
too, till Tuesday the 6th June: and then we saw also by us an innumerable
company of fowls of divers sorts; so that we looked about to see if there
were not another dead whale, but saw none.

The night before, the sun set in a black cloud, which appeared just like
land, and the clouds above it were gilded of a dark red colour. And on
the Tuesday, as the sun drew near the horizon, the clouds were gilded
very prettily to the eye, though at the same time my mind dreaded the
consequences of it. When the sun was now not above 2 degrees high it
entered into a dark smoky-coloured cloud that lay parallel with the
horizon, from whence presently seemed to issue many dusky blackish beams.
The sky was at this time covered with small hard clouds (as we call such
a lie scattering about, not likely to rain) very thick one by another;
and such of them as lay next to the bank of clouds at the horizon were of
a pure gold colour to 3 or 4 degrees high above the bank. From these to
about 10 degrees high they were redder and very bright; above them they
were of a darker colour still, to about 60 or 70 degrees high, where the
clouds began to be of their common colour. I took the more particular
notice of all this because I have generally observed such coloured clouds
to appear before an approaching storm: and, this being winter here and
the time for bad weather, I expected and provided for a violent blast of
wind by reefing our topsails, and giving a strict charge to my officers
to hand them or take them in if the wind should grow stronger. The wind
was now at west-north-west a very brisk gale. About 12 o'clock at night
we had a pale whitish glare in the north-west which was another sign, and
intimated the storm be near at hand; and, the wind increasing upon it, we