Of the many swift fish in the sea, the
dolphin, perhaps, is the most marvellous. Its oft-told beauty, too, is
indeed remarkable. A few of these fleet racers were captured, on the
voyage, but were found tough and rank; notwithstanding some eulogy on
them by other epicures, we threw the mess away. Those hooked by my crew
were perhaps the tyrrhena pirates "turned into dolphins" in the days of
yore.
On the 19th day from Pernambuco, early in the morning, we made Barbadoes
away in the West. First, the blue, fertile hills, then green fields came
into view, studded with many white buildings between sentries of giant
wind-mills as old nearly as the hills. Barbadoes is the most pleasant
island in the Antilles; to sail round its green fringe of coral sea is
simply charming. We stood in to the coast, well to windward, sailing
close in with the breakers so as to take in a view of the whole
delightful panorama as we sailed along. By noon we rounded the south
point of the island and shot into Carlysle Bay, completing the run from
Pernambuco exactly in nineteen days. This was considerably more than an
hundred miles a day.
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