_June 22._--We have seen a great many flying fish lately. This is truly a wonderful curiosity in nature, and is well calculated to excite our admiration and sympathy. These poor persecuted creatures are about the size of a herring, with finny wings, (as they may be called,) resembling in size and shape the blade of a table knife. When pursued by the dolphin, they rise out of the water by the assistance of these wings, and are able to fly as long as they keep moist; they then dip and rise again, until they are quite exhausted, and if they do not gain upon the dolphin, which is not easy, on account of his amazing swiftness in swimming, they become his prey. When out of the water, they seem to be deprived of the use of their eyes, which I suppose was the cause of some of them flying on board of our ship. I one day picked up one, and roasted it upon the gelly fire, and found it to have very much the flavour of a good herring. They always go in shoals; and it is really very novel and beautiful, to see scores, or I may say hundreds of these winged tenants of the great deep, skimming the water like so many swallows. _June 30._ James Moor fell overboard when in the act of shaking a rug for one of the officers. He kept himself above water a considerable time, but before the boat which was lowered for his assistance could reach him, he sunk like lead in the mighty waters. The sea was running so high that it was with no small difficulty the boat and crew could reach the ship again. _July 17._ We saw the Cape of Good Hope on our larboard bow, but we were at too great a distance to distinguish any objects on land. Signals were hoisted by the ----, 50 gun ship, for the captains, or rather pursers, to give an account of the state of their respective ships with regard to water. Being in general pretty well supplied, except the Coutts, which was head quarter ship, and had upwards of five hundred men on board, the commander of the man-of-war would not put into the Cape for her sake alone. Our expectations of seeing this country were therefore disappointed; but that was nothing: dearly did we pay for the want of this great blessing, with which we could here have been supplied. In about a month after we were put on short allowance, which in these latitudes is an English quart a-day; this we thought very hard, and it was so in some respects; but it would have been well if this allowance had been continued, but from a quart we were speedily reduced to a pint; and in this parched condition were we kept till we reached the land, which was three weeks.