Our next stopping-place was Rio, whither we went for letters
from home, the captain being taught to expect them. The ship's letters
were received, and they were filled with eulogiums on our good
conduct, having been written after the arrival of _la Dame de
Nantes;_ but great was my disappointment on finding there was not
even a scrawl for myself.
Our stay at Rio was short, and we left port with a favourable slant of
wind, running as far north as 50 degrees, in a very short time. As we drew
near to the southern extremity of the American continent, however, we
met with heavy weather and foul winds. We were now in the month that
corresponds to November in the northern hemisphere, and had to double
The Horn at that unpropitious season of the year, going
westward. There is no part of the world of which navigators have given
accounts so conflicting, as of this celebrated passage. Each man
appears to have described it as he found it, himself, while no two
seem to have found it exactly alike. I do not remember to have ever
heard of calms off Cape Horn; but light winds are by no means
uncommon, though tempests are undoubtedly the predominant
characteristic. Our captain had already been round four times, and he
held the opinion that the season made no difference, and that it was
better to keep near the land.
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