9".

According to an ancient custom the crew baptized those of their number who had never before crossed the equator; it was a holyday for them on board.

About two o'clock in the afternoon we perceived a sail in the S.S.W.We were not a little alarmed, believing that it was the same brig which we had seen some days before; for it was lying to, as if awaiting our approach.

We soon drew near, and to our great joy discovered that she was a Portuguese; we hailed her, and learned that she came from some part of South America, and was bound to Pernambuco, on the coasts of Brazil.

Very soon after we began to see what navigators call the _Clouds of Magellan_: they are three little white spots that one perceives in the sky almost as soon as one passes the equator: they were situated in the S.S.W.
The 1st November, we began to see great numbers of aquatic birds.