Towards three in the afternoon, those officers who went on shore in
the morning, returned on board loaded with vegetables, fruits and
flowers. They laughed heartily at the manoeuvres that had been going
on during their absence, which doubtless did not please the captain,
who flattered himself he had already found in his pilot Richefort, a
good and able seaman; such were his words.

At four in the afternoon we took a southerly direction. M. Richefort,
then beaming with exultation for having, as he said, saved the Medusa
from certain shipwreck, continued to give his pernicious counsels to
the captain, persuading him he had been often employed to explore the
shores of Africa, and that he was perfectly well acquainted with the
Arguin Bank. The journals of the 29th and 30th afford nothing very
remarkable.

The hot winds from the desert of Sahara began to be felt, which told
us we approached the tropic; indeed, the sun at noon seemed suspended
perpendicularly above our heads, a phenomenon which few among us had
ever seen.

On the 1st of July, we recognised Cape Bojador, and then saw the
shores of Sahara. Towards ten in the morning, they set about the
frivolous ceremony which the sailors have invented for the purpose of
exacting something from those passengers who have never crossed the
line. During the ceremony, the frigate doubled Cape Barbas hastening
to its destruction. Captain Lachaumareys very good humoredly presided
at this species of baptism, while his dear Richefort promenaded the
forecastle, and looked with indifference upon a shore bristling with
dangers. However that may be, all passed on well; nay, it may even be
said that the farce was well played off. But the route which we
pursued soon made us forget the short lived happiness we had
experienced. Every one began to observe the sudden change which had
taken place in the color of the sea, as we ran upon the bank in
shallow water. A general murmur arose among the passengers and
officers of the navy;--they were far from partaking in the blind
confidence of the captain.

On the second of July, at five in the morning, the captain was
persuaded that a large cloud, which was discovered in the direction of
Cape Blanco, was that Cape itself. After this pretended discovery,
they ought to have steered to the west, for about fifty leagues, to
have gained sea room to double with certainty the Arguin Bank;
moreover, they ought to have conformed to the instructions the
Mi