witnessed; it was so vivid as to be distinctly visible for nearly a
quarter of a mile.

September 16.

We saw this morning an immense number of fin-backed whales, some of which
were quite close to the vessel. In the course of half an hour I counted
thirty of them. Could they have been feeding on the phosphorescent
animals we saw last night?

We are today about 600 miles from the Cape, and there is a strange
discordance amongst the elements. From the south-west comes a long and
heavy swell; a strong breeze is blowing from the east, and threatening
clouds spring upwards from the north. These omens have a meaning. Down to
the southward, somewhere off Cape Horn, there blows a furious gale. The
wind will draw round shortly to the northward. That is the interpretation
and the reading.

A swell like this one can only witness off the Cape of Good Hope. It was
to me a novel and magnificent sight. Uniform and lofty ridges of waves
advancing in rapid succession, and yet with so regular and undisturbed a
motion that one might easily fancy these great walls of water to be
stationary: yet onward they moved in uniform and martial order; whilst as
the ship rose upon their crests she seemed to hover for a moment over the
ocean in mid air. And now the wind drew round to the northward and it
blew almost a gale. The vessel felt its power and bent before it. It was
beautiful to watch the process of hand-reefing topsails and making the
vessel snug--the ready obedience to the word of command and the noiseless
discipline with which each duty was fulfilled. First had the men
clustered on the rigging like bees; then at the word to lay out they