It was Captain
      Guy’s intention to make his first stoppage at Kerguelen’s Land—I
      hardly know for what reason. On the day we were picked up the
      schooner was off Cape St. Roque, in longitude thirty-one degrees
      west; so that, when found, we had drifted probably, from north to
      south, _not less than five-and-twenty degrees!_

      On board the Jane Guy we were treated with all the kindness our
      distressed situation demanded. In about a fortnight, during which
      time we continued steering to the southeast, with gentle breezes
      and fine weather, both Peters and myself recovered entirely from
      the effects of our late privation and dreadful sufferings, and we
      began to remember what had passed rather as a frightful dream
      from which we had been happily awakened, than as events which had
      taken place in sober and naked reality. I have since found that
      this species of partial oblivion is usually brought about by
      sudden transition, whether from joy to sorrow or from sorrow to
      joy—the degree of forgetfulness being proportioned to the degree
      of difference in the exchange. Thus, in my own case, I now feel
      it impossible to realize the full extent of the misery which I
      endured during the days spent upon the hulk. The incidents are
      remembered, but not the feelings which the incidents elicited at
      the time of their occurrence. I only know, that when they did
      occur, I then thought human nature could sustain nothing more of
      agony. We continued our voyage for some weeks without any incidents of
      greater moment than the occasional meeting with whaling-ships,
      and more frequently with the black or right whale, so called in
      contradistinction to the spermaceti. These, however, were chiefly
      found south of the twenty-fifth parallel. On the sixteenth of
      September, being in the vicinity of the Cape of Good Hope, the
      schooner encountered her first gale of any violence since leaving
      Liverpool. In this neighborhood, but more frequently to the south
      and east of the promontory (we were to the westward), navigators
      have often to contend with storms from the northward, which rage
      with great fury. They always bring with them a heavy sea, and one
      of their most dangerous features is the instantaneous chopping
      round of the wind, an occurrence almost certain to take place
      during the greatest force of the gale. A perfect hurricane will
      be blowing at one moment from the northward or northeast, and in
      the next not a breath of wind will be felt in that direction,
      while from the southwest it will come out all at once with a
      violence almost inconceivable. A bright spot to the southward is
      the sure forerunner of the change, and vessels are thus enabled
      to take the proper precautions. It was about six in the morning when the blow came on with a
      white squall, and, as usual, from the northward. By eight it had
      increased very much, and brought down upon us one of the most
      tremendous seas I had then ever beheld. Every thing had been made
      as snug as possible, but the schooner laboured excessively, and
      gave evidence of her bad qualities as a seaboat, pitching her
      forecastle under at every plunge and with the greatest difficulty
      struggling up from one wave before she was buried in another. Just before sunset the bright spot for which we had been on the
      look-out made its appearance in the southwest, and in an hour
      afterward we perceived the little headsail we carried flapping
      listlessly against the mast. In two minutes more, in spite of
      every preparation, we were hurled on our beam-ends, as if by
      magic, and a perfect wilderness of foam made a clear breach over
      us as we lay. The blow from the southwest, however, luckily
      proved to be nothing more than a squall, and we had the good
      fortune to right the vessel without the loss of a spar. A heavy
      cross sea gave us great trouble for a few hours after this, but
      toward morning we found ourselves in nearly as good condition as
      before the gale. Captain Guy considered that he had made an
      escape little less than miraculous. On the thirteenth of October we came in sight of Prince Edward’s
      Island, in latitude 46 degrees 53’ S., longitude 37 degrees 46’
      E. Two days afterward we found ourselves near Possession Island,
      and presently passed the islands of Crozet, in latitude 42
      degrees 59’ S., longitude 48 degrees E. On the eighteenth we made
      Kerguelen’s or Desolation Island, in the Southern Indian Ocean,
      and came to anchor in Christmas Harbour, having four fathoms of
      water. This island, or rather group of islands, bears southeast from the
      Cape of Good Hope, and is distant therefrom nearly eight hundred
      leagues. It was first discovered in 1772, by the Baron de
      Kergulen, or Kerguelen, a Frenchman, who, thinking the land to
      form a portion of an extensive southern continent carried home
      information to that effect, which produced much excitement at the
      time. The government, taking the matter up, sent the baron back
      in the following year for the purpose of giving his new discovery
      a critical examination, when the mistake was discovered. In 1777,
      Captain Cook fell in with the same group, and gave to the
      principal one the name of Desolation Island, a title which it
      certainly well deserves. Upon approaching the land, however, the
      navigator might be induced to suppose otherwise, as the sides of
      most of the hills, from September to March, are clothed with very
      brilliant verdure. This deceitful appearance is caused by a small
      plant resembling saxifrage, which is abundant, growing in large
      patches on a species of crumbling moss. Besides this plant there
      is scarcely a sign of vegetation on the island, if we except some
      coarse rank grass near the harbor, some lichen, and a shrub which
      bears resemblance to a cabbage shooting into seed, and which has
      a bitter and acrid taste. The face of the country is hilly, although none of the hills can
      be called lofty. Their tops are perpetually covered with snow. There are several harbors, of which Christmas Harbour is the most
      convenient. It is the first to be met with on the northeast side
      of the island after passing Cape Francois, which forms the
      northern shore, and, by its peculiar shape, serves to distinguish
      the harbour. Its projecting point terminates in a high rock,
      through which is a large hole, forming a natural arch.