or three days; the sea was like molten glass, and the sun burnt like a
furnace. On such occasions we were permitted to row about within a
reasonable distance of the ship, so that if a breeze suddenly sprang up
we might not be left behind. Once this very nearly occurred, when we had
rowed a long way off, after what was supposed to be a whale spouting. We
suddenly felt a gentle breath of air, and noticed the glassy surface
giving place to a slight disturbance. We were a mile off the ship, but
could distinctly hear the summons from aboard, and noticed the sails
filling. We rowed with all our strength, stripped to the waist, and
succeeded in getting up when the ship was well under weigh. It was a
stiff piece of work, and the captain was so concerned and annoyed at our
disobedience of his orders that he refused to allow us to boat again
during the voyage. We suffered sorely for our escapade, for not knowing
the strength of a tropical sun, we exposed ourselves so that the skin
was burned and peeled off, and we were in misery for several days, while
our arms and necks were swathed in cotton wool and oil.

After leaving the tropics we had a pleasant voyage and fair winds until
we rounded the Cape, where we encountered some rough weather, and at 56°
S.L., it being then almost winter in those latitudes, we passed many
icebergs of more or less extent. Few of them appeared to be more than
ten or fifteen feet above water, but the greater portion of such blocks
are submerged, and considerable caution had to be observed night and day
to steer clear of them. They were usually observable at first from the
large number of birds resting on them, causing them to appear like a
dark speck on the horizon. One of these icebergs (according to an entry
made in the ship's log) was stated to be five miles long and of great
height, and we were supposed to have passed it at the latter end of the
night so near that "a biscuit might be thrown upon it." I am afraid the
entry was open to criticism, and that the existence, or at any rate, the