T RAV

176 TRAVELS IN AFRICA.wet, squally, and chilly. The returning sun, however, makes a t.riumphantstruggIe, and alternations of serene skies and seas intervene, ofwhichthe razor-backed whaIe, which abounds through this part of the oceanavaiIs himseIf to play, spouting up the water arQund the vesseI ; and incidentstrifling in themselves acquire an interest in the tedium of a sea~voyage.Cape Cantin is a boId object.lt ls, to be regretted that it has notit8 latitude duly ascertaincd, experienced seamen being of opinion thatil is placed full thirty miles too tnuchtofheuorthinourcharts. Elevendays trial of tackliI)g in stiffgales, andoftempers in cleadcalms, broughtthevoyageto ifsftermi;nation, atthe anchorage in the Toad of :Mogodor,in latitudé 3iO 25', on the ~4th of .March 1'785.During the whole ~f summer, a steady north breeze, which howeverdoes 110t extend far out tosea, prevails aIJdown this coast from theStraits.It is usuallyso stiff thata vessel can hardlyholdh€'r stationagainst it; and this port, ifthenovershot, is not easil;y recovered~theprogress clown the coast, the cultivators wereseendiligently aitwork,with twobullocksin aplough, in /spite of heavy flying westernshowers, hurrying their crops into the ground, and by the hasty modeof their process appearing;as if they had a wager against time in hand,withtheir plough.Inapproaching thi8 place trom the north, .. a fewvillages, too, cross the eye; but what distinguishes the place itself (fOf. it has no conspicuous land-marks) is its lofty white towers.MOGODoR.-This place is a creation of the present Sultan.InSoucrawas the ancient name of the situation. Its denomination as at presentwas bestowed on it in memory of a Mohommedan"* saint, as it is said,"* The wOJ'dis thus spelt in conformitywith its expression from the Jnonihsorthepeople themselves,who may certainly in this case he esteemed the best critics.