DECEMBER 24. (Sunday.)
At length we have crawled into the Caribbean Sea, I was
told that we were not to expect to see land to-day ; but on ship-board our not seeing a thing to-day by no means implies that we
shall not see it before to-morrow; for the nautical day is supposed to
conclude at noon, when the
solar observation is taken;
and, therefore, the making land to-day, or not, very often depends
upon our making it before twelve o'clock, or after it. This was
the case in the present instance ; for noon was scarcely passed when
we saw Descada (a small island totally unprovided with water, and
whose only produce consists in a little cotton), Guadaloupe, and
Marie Galante, though the latter was at so great a distance as to
be scarcely visible. At sunset Antigua was in sight.
