From the Falkland latitude, the _Novara_ steered nearly a great circle course, or, in other words, followed the shortest line of distance, to the point where she must pass through the "Horse latitudes," about 25° W. of Greenwich, and with favourable west winds, sometimes rather stormy, sped along at from 200 to 250 knots per diem on her homeward voyage. On 5th June, about 9 P.M., a sudden squall from W.N.W. struck the ship about the latitude of the most northerly part of Patagonia, so violent that had not the sails been taken in with all despatch, the very masts must have been blown out of the vessel, or at all events have sustained serious injury. Notwithstanding her being short of upper sails, the frigate heeled over more at this time than at any other period throughout the voyage.
On 7th and 8th June, the _Novara_ encountered a severe tornado, about the latitude of the mouth of the La Plata. A violent wind, which blew from the N.N.E., on the 7th, hauled round by N. and N.N.W. to W.S.W., and reached its greatest power on the 8th, about 9 A.M., the wind being N.W. At this moment the motion of the ship was so great, and she laboured so heavily in the high short waves, that the boats on her lee quarter were in imminent danger of being swept overboard. By observations made it was found that she heeled over 38° to starboard and 12° to port, so that the entire amount of oscillation was 50°.
Unfortunately one of the barometers got broke on this occasion; the officer, while observing it, being precipitated against it by a sudden roll of the ship. It was the most trustworthy instrument on board, and, albeit near the end of the voyage, it was not the less vexatious to have the series of admirable observations made with this instrument suddenly interrupted.
The 11th June possessed an interest of its own for those on board the _Novara_, as on that day she crossed the course which she had followed two years before, in sailing from Rio to the Cape of Good Hope. Thus the actual circumnavigation had been successfully completed, and at least the material portion of the undertaking happily achieved.
Meanwhile the wind, though still always favourable, had abated greatly from its first strength, and each day saw the barometer steadily rising. Even the sea-birds, those constant attendants of vessels, so long as they are in the extra-tropical latitudes of the Southern Ocean, now gradually began to cease flitting around the ship, as she approached the hot zones.