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packet is now the earliest that
will take intelligence of our progress
thus far — I have written several
letters to you since we started
but the ships did not pass near
en^o to send them on board and
in stead of to the flames* I have
regularly (after keeping them till
out of date) committed them to
the care of neptune. Some
propitious billow may role
them against our western beach
perhaps – but more likely by far
that they will be pickled than
preserved. This morning brings
us another rainy, misty, dull, foggy,
wet, drizzly, english-scotchy fied
atmosphere on deck — our course
rather better being at nine oclock
SE by E. about four knots p-h^r
nothing like a floating castle
in sight this morning — The
Sun just peepd forth and we
tried the longitude upon a
supposed Latitude found it 11 1/2
& Lat 49° 23 taken at 12 [shorthand for o'clock?]

The day is so far respectid
that the cards do not make
*{[shorthand]}