On account of the length of time, and the chafing of whales alongside and under the ship, the copper was in a desperate condition. Looking at her bottom, when the sea was calm and clear, nothing could be seen but an irregular bunch of vegetable matter; looking, from her waterways to the kelson, as much like a collection of old rags, as anything else that I could compare it to, whilst in many places whole sheets of copper were gone, and in others it was rolled up in scrolls. I hooked up a piece, and, on examination, found it of an almost transparent thinness. All these inequalities in the surface of the bottom naturally tended to retard the speed; and, consequently, when whalers start for home, they strive to make amends for all deficiencies by a greater spread of canvass, and venture to carry it longer than any other class of vessels afloat, relying on the number and skill of their men to prevent disaster in time of emergency. We kept on with a light fair wind to the southward and eastward for some days, and, from the agreeableness of the weather, augured a pleasant passage around; but when opposite Cape l’Agulhas the wind hauled ahead, and we had it first light and clear, then strong and cloudy, with showers of rain and thick fog. For the benefit of those who imagine that sailors have but little to do when afloat, I will copy from my log-book the proceedings of several days (whilst in this baffling weather), _verbatim et literatum_. _December 16th._--This day opens with a strong breeze from the eastward, cloudy. At midnight running before it, with maintopgallant sail, fore, and foretopmast studding sails set. At 1 o’clock A. M. the breeze increasing to a gale, we took in the studding-sails and topgallantsail; at three, double-reefed the topsails; at 6 A. M. the wind hauling forward, loosed and set the mainsail; at 8, were obliged to furl it; at 9, shook a reef out of each topsail, and set jib, spanker, and mainsail; at 11, the wind hauled to the S. S. W., clewed down the topsails and close-reefed them--thus remained for the balance of the day. _December 17th._--At 1 A. M. shook a reef out of each topsail; at 4¹⁄₂, struck by a squall that hove her down rail to, hauled up the courses, kept the ship off to haul down the jib, which was done, and furled the sail; then furled the spanker, luffed to, close-reefed the topsails and furled the mainsail amid torrents of rain; at 3 P. M. furled the foretopsail; at 6 P. M., after having shipped a sea that filled it full, took in the bowboat; at 6¹⁄₂, furled the foresail; at 7, clewed down the maintopsail, shook out the reefs and reefed it over; at 7¹⁄₂, loosed the foretopsail, shook out the reefs, reefed it over, sheeted it home and set it.