Wednesday, November 6th

A most lovely morning and day, such as in an early summer in England. Almost too hot to sit long in the sun. Amused myself by idling over the stern 'fishing' for birds. A Cape pigeon was caught, but not by me. The albatrosses keep prudently out of the way. The birds at present in sight are the wandering white and the dusky albatrosses, the stormy and the silver petrel or whale bird, the Cape hen or giant petrel, also the ice bird—a large kind of silver petrel almost the size of a Cape hen, with white on the belly. Some consternation excited on deck by the fall of a very heavy block from the mainyard to the deck. It fell on the shoulder of the carpenter within an inch of his skull and within a couple of feet of Hamilton as he was working at the same bench. Andy, who has been suffering from some affection of the heart, is now much better. Every one in good spirits, and the vessel with gentle motion, keeps us so by carrying us on quietly at eight or nine knots. Lat. at noon, 41.24. Long. 26, 155 miles run.