ip; and so, when Macdougall went
below with the starboard watch at eight bells in the afternoon, the
boatswain took charge of the deck with the relief hands--the mate
telling him still to keep to the same west-sou'-west course which I had
suggested to Mr Macdougall, a couple of hours or so before, should be
altered to a more southerly one, and the controversy about which had
caused that "little unpleasantness" between us, which had terminated so
disastrously for myself.

To explain this matter properly, I should mention that, when, on our
thirteenth day out, after the cessation of the north-westerly gale that
had driven us to the south of the Canaries, Captain Billings discovered
that we were so near in to the African coast, in taking advantage of the
wind off the land he had perhaps committed an error of judgment in
making an attempt to recover our lost westing, instead of pursuing a
course more directly to the southwards; for, in the early part of the
northern summer, the Equatorial Current begins to run with greater
rapidity towards the west, causing vessels to lose much of their true
direction, and the most experienced navigators recommend crossing this
stream at right angles, if possible, so as to get beyond its influence
as speedily as circumstances will permit, at least at that time of year,
when an easterly passage of the equator is advisable.

However, the skipper acted for the best, wishing to get well to the
windward of Cape Blanco and the contrary currents and variable breezes
generally encountered in that vicinity; and so, the _Esmeralda_ had
therefore continued on a diagonal course across the equatorial stream
even after we had picked up the regular north-east Trades, until we had
reached the meridian of 25 degrees West, when we had run as far south as
8 degrees 15 minutes North.

Here, we lost the Trades that had blown us so far on our route, entering
into the second great belt of calms met with in the Atlantic to perplex
the mariner when essaying to pass either to the north or south of the
equator--a zone of torpidity, known popularly under the name of the
"Doldrums," which was originally derived most probably from the old
Portuguese phrase _dolorio_, "tormenting."

This belt of calms separates the two wind zones of the north-east and
south-west Trades, which meeting here, their opposing forces are
neutralised, and the air they bring with them from the colder regions of
the north and south, becoming