It blew hardest when at west or between the west and south-west,
but after it veered more southerly the foul weather broke up: this I
observed at other times also in these seas, that when the storms at west
veered to the southward they grew less; and that when the wind came to
the east of the south we had still smaller gales, calms, and fair
weather. As for the westerly winds on that side the Cape, we like them
never the worse for being violent, for they drive us the faster to the
eastward; and are therefore the only winds coveted by those who sail
towards such parts of the East Indies as lie south of the equator; as
Timor, Java, and Sumatra; and by the ships bound for China, or any other
that are to pass through the Straits of Sunda. Those ships having once
passed the Cape keep commonly pretty far southerly, on purpose to meet
with these west winds, which in the winter season of these climates they
soon meet with; for then the winds are generally westerly at the Cape,
and especially to the southward of it: but in their summer months they
get to the southward of 40 degrees usually ere they meet with the
westerly winds.
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