[Footnote 83: The particulars are mentioned in his log-book. On the 14th of August a fire was made in the well, to air the ship below. On the 15th, the spare sails were aired upon deck, and a fire made to air the sail-room. On the 17th, cleaned and smoked betwixt decks, and the bread-room aired with fires. On the 21st, cleaned and smoked betwixt decks; and on the 22d, the men's bedding was spread on deck to air.--D.] On the first of September[84] we crossed the equator, in the longitude of 27° 38' W., with a fine gale at S.E. by S.; and notwithstanding my apprehensions of falling in with the coast of Brazil in stretching to the S.W., I kept the ship a full point from the wind. However, I found my fears were ill-grounded; for on drawing near that coast, we met with the wind more and more easterly; so that, by the time we were in the latitude of 10° S., we could make a south-easterly course good. [Footnote 84: The afternoon, as appears from Mr Anderson's Journal, was spent in performing the old and ridiculous ceremony of ducking those who had not crossed the equator before. Though Captain Cook did not suppress the custom, he thought it too trifling to deserve the least mention of it in his Journal, or even in his log-book. Pernetty, the writer of Bougainville's Voyage to the Falkland Islands, in 1763 and 1764, thought differently; for his account of the celebration of this childish festival on board his ship, is extended through seventeen pages, and makes the subject of an entire chapter, under the title of _Baptême de la Ligne_. It may be worth while to transcribe his introduction to the description of it. "C'est un usage qui ne remonte pas plus haut que ce voyage célébre de Gama, qui a fourni au Camoens le sujet de la Lusiade. L'idée qu'on ne sçauroit être un bon marin, sans avoir traversé l'Equateur, l'ennui inséparable d'une longue navigation, un certain esprit republicain qui regne dans toutes les petites societés, peut-être toutes ces causes reunies, ont pu donner naissance à ces especes de saturnales. Quoiqu'il en soi, elles furent adoptées, en un instant, dans toutes les nations, et les hommes les plus eclairés furent obligés de se soumettre à une coutume dont ils reconnoissoient l'absurdité. Car, partout, dès que le peuple parle, il faut que le sage se mette à l'unison."--_Histoire d'un Voyage aux Isles Malouines_, p. 107, 108.--D.]