Since which period, almost without a crew, and almost without canvas and almost without water, and, at intervals giving its added dead to the sea, the San Dominick had been battle-dored about by contrary winds, inveigled by currents, or grown weedy in calms. Like a man lost in woods, more than once she had doubled upon her own track.
See "doldrums"
the consequent prolonged beating about, the past sufferings from obstinate calms, and still continued suffering from thirst; in all these points, as well as others, Don Benito’s story had corroborated not only the wailing ejaculations of the indiscriminate multitude, white and black, but likewise–what seemed impossible to be counterfeit–by the very expression and play of every human feature, which Captain Delano saw.
These "obstinate calms" probably refer to the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ. Also know as "the doldrums," in this zone around the equator wind currents of the northern and southern hemisphereshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doldrums converge. The doldrums are known for both storms and minimal wind. "Colloquially, the "doldrums" are a state of inactivity, mild depression, listlessness, or stagnation" - which also seems to be the prevailing mood of Benito Cereno, as Capt. Delano perceives him. See also: Page note 1, Tag: "doldrums"
