We steered away to the
south-east, and lost sight of the American coast the day after our
departure. From this time until the 13th of October, when we made the
Cape, nothing remarkable occurred, except the loss of a convict in the
ship I was on board, who unfortunately fell into the sea, and perished
in spite of our efforts to save him, by cutting adrift a life buoy and
hoisting out a boat. During the passage, a slight dysentery prevailed
in some of the ships, but was in no instance mortal. We were at first
inclined to impute it to the water we took on board at the Brazils, but
as the effect was very partial, some other cause was more probably the
occasion of it.
At seven o'clock in the evening of the 13th of October, we cast anchor
in Table Bay, and found many ships of different nations in the harbour.
Little can be added to the many accounts already published of the Cape
of Good Hope, though, if an opinion on the subject might be risqued, the
descriptions they contain are too flattering. When contrasted with Rio
de Janeiro, it certainly suffers in the comparison.
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