by a tremendous sea; the helm was seized beyond control, and the man at
the wheel was thrown from one side of the ship to the other, breaking
two of his ribs, which confined him to his berth for a week.

In latitude 35° 19", longitude 40°, the sea appeared to be covered with
marine plants, and the change that we observed in the color of the
water, as well as the immense number of gulls and other aquatic birds
that we saw, proved to us that we were not far from the mouth of the
_Rio de la Plata_. The wind continued to blow furiously till the 21st,
when it subsided a little, and the weather cleared up. On the 25th,
being in the 46th degree, and 30 minutes of latitude, we saw a penguin.

We began to feel sensibly the want of water: since passing the tropic of
Capricorn the daily allowance had been always diminishing, till we were
reduced to three gills a day, a slender modicum considering that we had
only salt provisions. We had indeed a still, which we used to render the
sea-water drinkable; but we distilled merely what sufficed for the daily
use of the kitchen, as to do more would have required a great quantity
of wood or coal. As we were not more than one hundred and fifty leagues
from the Falkland isles, we determined to put in there and endeavor to
replenish our casks, and the captain caused the anchors to be got ready.

We had contrary winds from the 27th of November to the 3d December. On
the evening of that day, we heard one of the officers, who was at the
mast head, cry "Land! Land!" Nevertheless, the night coming on, and the
barren rocks which we had before us being little elevated above the
ocean, we hove to.