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Quitting Rio Janeiro the 19th of July, with the wind at E.N.E. we shaped our course to the southward, in order to get into the region of westerly winds, which came on gradually till they fixed in strong N.W. gales. It was now found impossible to keep company with the Ocean, without running under bare poles, which strained the ship violently, and we therefore parted company near the Islands of Tristan d'Acunha; the largest of which we made on the 2d of August. The preceding evening it had blown a heavy gale, with a mountainous sea; but as we approached the island, the wind moderated to a fine breeze, the billows subsided, and the clouds clearing away, shewed the full-moon suspended in the clearest ether: by her friendly light, at about four o'clock we saw the
