Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume I Part 8

A walk on the same evening towards Porto Santo Jorge was not less charming than instructive, especially as we gazed on those hardened streams of lava, so interesting as regards the geological history of the island, out of the numerous crevices of which grew luxuriant magnificent rosettes of _Sempervivum_. Fuchsias and heliotropes were gathered from the bushes, and each took a share, now with the geological hammer, now with the botanical box, or the b.u.t.terfly-catcher, in the harvest of objects of natural history. We pa.s.sed in this neighbourhood several houses delightfully situated, surrounded by hedgerows of luxuriant shrubs and splendid native flowers.

In the fine garden of the inn, amidst myrtles, bignonias, euphorbias, and fuchsias, was a handsome _Camellia j.a.ponica_, which had attained the imposing height of 15 feet, with a diameter of 9 inches, the top spreading fan-like in numberless branches.

The following morning we returned to Funchal, accompanied by a troop of ragged and diseased natives, pertinaciously appealing to our charity.

Plenteous alms were given them, for where Nature is so prodigal of her gifts, the human mind becomes more sensitive and liberal. At noon, we again reached the beautiful terrace of Nossa Senhora de Monte, and here the excursion was wound up by a diversion of quite a peculiar character; for, instead of returning to Funchal on horseback, we slid down a mountain 1500 feet high, right into the town, on small double-seated wooden sledges, thus travelling down what is probably the grandest natural _Montagne Russe_ in the world. A train of more than a dozen sledges started at the same time. These singular vehicles are guided on either side with admirable adroitness by two natives, who avoid slipping by moistening their shoes; and, notwithstanding the velocity of these conveyances, even slight accidents are unheard of. Sledge parties of this kind, being cheap, const.i.tute the most favourite amus.e.m.e.nt of the people of Funchal.

The whole company met together once more at a convivial dinner in the hotel, where, agreeably to the custom of the country, not only the room and table, but even every single dish served up, was adorned with garlands of fragrant flowers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE II.--TRACK FROM MADEIRA TO RIO DI JANEIRO.]

On the 17th June we again weighed anchor. The intention had originally been to steer direct for Rio de Janeiro; but as we learned, two days before our departure, that the yellow fever, though on the decrease, had not yet entirely ceased, we were in no hurry to arrive at the capital of Brazil, and therefore determined to employ the time so gained, in investigating the nature of the winds and currents prevalent in these lat.i.tudes. For though the proper course of s.h.i.+ps between England and North America has been admirably laid down, for nearly every month of the year, by the long-continued ingenious labours of Commander Maury, of the Was.h.i.+ngton Observatory, yet there still exists great difficulty in steering sailing vessels from Gibraltar or Madeira to South America, by the directions. .h.i.therto existing; the more so, as the seafarer in these lat.i.tudes, close to the limits of the north-east trade-wind, generally falls in with variable breezes and frequent calms, caused partly by the African coast and partly by the cl.u.s.ter of isles from the Azores to the Cape Verde Islands, and which are of still more frequent occurrence in the summer of the northern hemisphere.

We kept Madeira, or rather the clouds which, during the summer, gather daily round the mountains, a long time in view; and on the 19th, at a distance of 120 miles from the island, some persons on board thought they could still distinguish them.

We steered at first in a south-westerly direction, with light breezes and fine weather. Advancing, however, towards the limits of the trade-winds, showers became frequent, and the wind chopped about much oftener; a more southerly course was therefore taken, in order to come as soon as possible under the influence of the north-easterly trade-winds.

There was now an opportunity of directing attention to the formation of the clouds, which, in these lat.i.tudes, a.s.sume at times very curious appearances. The _cirri_ disappeared by degrees, and the _c.u.muli_ towered up on the horizon in colossal ma.s.ses. These latter are formed under the influence of the sun, when most powerful, and are therefore seen chiefly during the afternoon. As soon as they rise they vanish by absorption, just as fast as they are formed by evaporation from the sea. Rain very rarely proceeds from them. The alternation of their shades, tints, and colours, is beautiful in the extreme, particularly at sunset, when their outlines, as they stand out in bold relief on the clear blue sky, vary in hue from the deepest grey to the most brilliant golden yellow.

The nearer the tropics are approached the more does ocean teem with animated o.r.g.a.s.ms. A net cast into it was immediately filled with an immense number of little living creatures. Pretty-looking blue c.o.c.kles, sea-nettles, and various other inhabitants of the deep, all of the most minute size, lay rolled up in one lump with small sea-weeds of beautiful forms and tints, from which those tiny things endeavoured, with great exertion, to extricate themselves. The microscope discloses to the observer an entirely new world in the economy of nature, as displayed in the animal life of the surface of the sea. The entire oceanic creation, from the smallest infusoria to the huge whale, are all specially adapted to the element in which they exist, and organized to contribute to the preservation, as well as the further development, of the whole globe.

This is beautifully ill.u.s.trated by the operations of the zoophytes; the water of rivers dissolves the chalky substances of the land and carries them down to the ocean,--immense numbers of these form, for themselves, habitations from this matter;--by successive acc.u.mulation, produced through the action or the dead bodies of these creatures, the ground is raised gradually into the reefs, banks, and rocks, so dangerous to navigation; or into islands inhabited by man, who, in the development of his moral and physical powers, performs his mission in his high position, just as definitely as the imperceptible animalcuae do in their narrow sphere.

Exceedingly beautiful in the tropic seas are those small _physali_, a species of _Acalephae_, known to sailors as "Portuguese men-of-war." They sail along by means of their large air-bags, exposed to the wind, whilst their numerous long, dark-blue tentacles, like fibres or roots, reach deep into the water, extending or contracting in order to secure their food.

The fringes of these air-bags are of a violet colour, and resemble, when in suns.h.i.+ne, a splendid flower, floating about the sea in all directions.

Approaching the zone of the trade-winds, the aspect of the sea is animated by flying-fish. It has been long a matter of doubt whether this fish really moves through the air by flying, or whether, being pursued by enemies, it merely darts from fear out of the water, and sustains itself in the air by means of its long pectoral fins, though the long distances it moves are out of all proportion to its size and probable muscular power. This doubt seems to have originated with those who never have had an opportunity of personally observing flying-fish; or who have merely seen these creatures in the Mediterranean, where they are so small as to render it rather difficult to decide in what the movement really consists.

But in the tropics all doubt vanishes, for the fish here attains a length of from 6 to 8 inches, and its pectoral fins are so much developed that they may perfectly well be used as wings. By closely observing them, it is seen that these fins, or wings, have an oscillating or vibratory motion, like that of the gra.s.shopper, by which they a.s.sist the oblique spring from the water, produced by muscular power; they move at a height of from two to three feet above the surface of the sea, to a distance of from 50 to 100 yards, and at the same time change the direction of their flight in exactly the same way as gra.s.shoppers.

It seems, however, to be neither pleasure nor want of food that drives these creatures from their own element. They have numerous enemies, of which the princ.i.p.al is the bonita (_s...o...b..r Palamy_); whenever flying-fish were seen the bonitas likewise made their appearance; we often saw the latter darting out of the water and snapping at a flying-fish, when, if they did not succeed, they were perceived hastening under water in the same direction that their prey was taking. But the flying-fish is quite aware of the movement of the enemy, and, therefore, sometimes turns back abruptly, evidently with a view of dodging his pursuer. The advantage of the wings is, however, more apparent than real, for whilst they escape by these means from the bonitas, dorados, and dolphins, they fall a sacrifice to the seagulls and man-of-war birds (_Tachypetes aquilus_), which reach them like arrows shot from a bow, before they are able to conceal themselves again in the ocean. Those which were seen on the north of the equator, were invariably of the smaller kind (_Exocaetus volitans_); whilst in the south, also, the larger species (_Exocaetus exulans_) made their appearance. They often drop during the night on the decks of small vessels with low bows, but on the _Novara_, which rose about 20 feet over the surface of the water, this was not possible; however, some fell upon the chains, which were caught and preserved in alcohol by the zoologists.

On the 27th June, at midday, we had arrived in 27 2' N. Lat., and 24 7'

W. Long., and lay in a perfect calm, the mirror-like aspect of the sea allowing us to take a deep-sea sounding with what is called Brooke's apparatus. This consists of a tube, which runs through a thirty-pound shot, fastened to a thin line. As the shot, however, cannot easily be drawn up after the sounding, there is an ingenious mechanism, by means of which, on touching the ground, it is detached from the tube, which may then be drawn up, the shot remaining in the sea. The tube has a funnel-shaped opening at its lower extremity, by which a portion of the ground may likewise be brought up for scientific examination.

In the afternoon a boat provided with everything requisite for the sounding, was launched, and the operation began. Unfortunately there were only 4050 fathoms of line, as we did not find at Gibraltar the quality required for the purpose. The whole stock ran entirely out without reaching ground; we could therefore do nothing more than make the attempt to heave the tube without the shot. In this, however, we succeeded only in so far as regarded the first 2000 fathoms; then the line broke, and the remainder was lost. One of the causes of this accident was the sudden rise of the trade-wind which increased so much as to engross nearly our entire attention.

To convey an idea of the time a ball of this kind takes to descend through the different strata of water, which increases in density in proportion to the depth attained, we annex the length of the different periods required in paying out the line during the experiment:--

Minutes. Seconds.

The first 1000 fathoms occupied 19 8 From 1000 to 2000 " 21 3 " 2000 to 3000 " 40 6 " 3000 to 4000 " 76 6 " 4000 to 4050 " 3 5 ______________ Total time in running out the entire length Hours 2 39 28

As the winding up of the tube requires at least the same period, it may easily be conceived how great is the expenditure of time necessary for such an experiment, and on what chances the success of the whole operation depends. Though this trial was partially unsuccessful, yet so much is certain, that at this point, 24,300 feet of line were run off without reaching the ground. There is always, however, to be taken into consideration the under-current, which draws the line out of the perpendicular, and renders the result of the operation rather doubtful.

We now sailed with a fresh and steady trade-wind towards the thirtieth degree of W. Long., and thence along that meridian to the southward.

In the night, between the 29th to the 30th, we crossed the parallel of the sun's declination, upon which the direction of our shadows, already for several days scarcely perceptible, was of course changed from north to south.

We soon crossed the belt of the north-eastern trade-wind, as we made daily from 180 to 200 miles. On the 3rd of July the wind became very unsteady, and on the 5th, in 8 30' N. Lat. and 29 30' W. Long., it entirely left us. The sky often became dark and threatening; indeed, its aspect changed at times with surprising rapidity, without any particular disturbance in the direction or strength of the wind; nor had we to complain of as much rain as might have been expected in these regions.

The calms in the so-called "belt of calms" were fortunately not of long duration, for in 6 43' N., and 28 49' W., a fresh south-east wind sprang up. When we came within the influence of the south-east trade-wind, we endeavoured to approach the coast of South America, for the purpose of observing the currents in that lat.i.tude, this being one of the investigations suggested by the letter of instructions drawn up by Alexander v. Humboldt. The great oceanic stream, which, on leaving the western coast of Africa takes a westerly direction, is divided by the projecting American Continent into two branches, of which the stronger turns N.W. towards the Caribean Sea, while the weaker moves south-west along the coast of Brazil.

We had already felt its influence whilst in the zone of calms, and it became still more perceptible the more the equator was approached. The continuance of the south-easterly trade forced us to cross the Line at a more westerly point than usual. This, however, causes no disadvantage to a good sailing s.h.i.+p; nay, Commander Maury has proved indisputably that s.h.i.+ps make extremely short pa.s.sages, which reach the Equator so far to the west that they run a risk of hugging the coast too closely. Those on the other hand, which, from over-anxiety to avoid the current, keep too far to the east, lose much time, being compelled to pa.s.s weeks in the zone of calms, which increases in breadth towards the east, whereas the others come very little in contact with it, and avail themselves of the changes of wind near the sh.o.r.e, to double the Cape of St. Roque on the American coast, so much dreaded by the former. We cannot here forbear expressing our high admiration of the great merits of Mr. Maury, whose cla.s.sical work on the physical geography of the sea, as well as his inestimable wind and current charts, deserve the especial attention of all who navigate these seas.

The nearer we approached the Line, the more striking became the aspect of the southern constellations. The light of the northern polar star grew fainter and fainter, its alt.i.tude diminished, and it at length entirely disappeared. But, on the other hand, the Southern Cross, the Magellan clouds, the s.h.i.+p Argo on the "coal-bags," or starless, dark spots of the southern hemisphere, became more elevated in proportion as the northern sky moved away, and for a moment we felt some difficulty in recognizing our old acquaintances of the northern hemisphere in their relation to the new stars.

On the 15th, at 3 A.M., we crossed the Line in 33 50' W.L. This event, which with all sailors forms a marked epoch in their seafaring life, had in this case the additional feature of being actually the first occasion of an Austrian man-of-war entering the southern hemisphere, and our crew, who had long before enjoyed, in antic.i.p.ation, the merriment to which it would give occasion, had commenced the ceremony the preceding evening.

Neptune, accompanied by an appropriate retinue of mermaids, tritons, and nereids, appeared at sunset, to announce with the utmost gravity to the Commodore, in a set speech, the astounding news that the vessel was entering his dominions, demonstrating the fact mathematically by an immense s.e.xtant, a chart, and pair of compa.s.ses a yard long, all manufactured by the s.h.i.+p's carpenter, and claiming his right to see the act of shaving and baptizing properly performed on all those who for the first time came into his kingdom. Amidst streams of water from the masts and fire-engines he made his exit down the rope ladder in a blaze of blue fire, followed by an ignited tar-barrel, which floated along like a globe of fire on the mirror-like surface of the sea.

The real farce, however, took place the next afternoon, when Neptune re-appeared, accompanied this time by his good lady and a hopeful youth, all decked out in real sea-G.o.d-like attire, in a car drawn by six tritons, still accompanied by his farcical retinue blowing a flourish on their bugles, when, after a second set speech to the Commodore, the great ruler of the waves declared that the ceremony was now to begin.

Every sailor was obliged, whether he would or no, to undergo a lathering with a nasty mixture of tar and grease, and submit to be sc.r.a.ped by an immense tin razor; which operation being performed, the unfortunate sufferer was thrown into a sail suspended by its four corners, and there deluged from head to foot from pails, pumps, hose, pots, dishes, and everything else that would hold water. The officers and other gentlemen escaped the ordeal by a contribution in money or wine towards the festivities.

When the greater part of the sailors had undergone this process, and the scene, amidst formidable gushes of water, rioting, uproar, and excitement, had reached its highest point, behold! a voice thundered from the quarter-deck the words "two o'clock," and everything resumed its wonted aspect.

Though the Line had been crossed at a more westerly point than usual, we were able, in the night from the 18th to the 19th of July, to pa.s.s easterly between the rocks Las Roccas and the island of Fernando da Noronha.[34] On the 20th July we were carried again by unfavourable winds to a distance of 100 miles from the Brazilian coast, where we parted from our faithful companion, the _Caroline_. She sailed for Pernambuco, whilst we kept out to sea in order to continue the observations on the westerly currents, and be able freely to double Cape St. Augustin. Bad weather, showers, and heavy swells prevented complete success in our task; it was, however, ascertained that the current close to the land is not so strong as at some distance from it, and that the extreme point of divergence is, at this particular season of the year, somewhat east of the south point of Fernando de Noronha. In the angle formed by the direction of the two currents between the point of division and the land, partial currents (according to circ.u.mstances and the strength of the wind), run towards one or the other side, of which the stronger tends towards the north-west.

[Footnote 34: This island, situated 300 miles from Pernambuco, which supplies it with provisions, is at present used by the Brazilian Government as a penal settlement. It is extremely beautiful and fertile, but very little cultivated, and admirably suited for a coal depot, and a place for s.h.i.+ps obtaining stores, particularly when epidemics are prevalent in Rio de Janeiro.]

On the 23rd July the weather cleared up; we approached the coast and came in sight of Cape St. Augustin, the first land descried since leaving Madeira. On the 1st of August a rock was announced ahead; as nothing of the kind was indicated in the charts, we were curious to know what this could be. A boat was manned, and we were soon made aware, by our olfactory organs, of the real nature of the object, which turned out to be the carcase of a dead whale in a state of putrefaction, over which a number of birds were hovering, whilst a troop of sharks feasted on the putrid ma.s.s, boring themselves into the body. This incident shows how many rocks marked in charts as doubtful may owe their origin to similar circ.u.mstances; for, had we not been convinced of the real nature of the object, we should have believed this carcase to be a rock, and thus augmented the number of "doubtfuls" and interrogations in the charts of the Atlantic.

On the 3rd August we made Cape Frio, and after a rough and stormy night reached at last, on the morning of the 5th, the numerous small islands situated in front of the harbour of Rio. The _Sugar Loaf_, that remarkable black basaltic rock at its entrance, stood grandly forth, as we ran in.

Unfortunately the gloomy state of the atmosphere prevented the enjoyment of the exquisite beauty of this so often described charming bay.

Here we found an English, a French, and an American frigate, as also a dirty old Brazilian sloop of war. Besides these s.h.i.+ps of war, a Spanish frigate and galliot lay in the mercantile dock for repair; they had shortly before their arrival lost their masts in a _pampero_,[35] which, however, had borne all the characteristic marks of a cyclone.[36] The occurrence of tornadoes in the South Atlantic has been so often and so decidedly denied, that the mariner does not readily believe the violent storms of those lat.i.tudes to be hurricanes. This Spanish frigate had accordingly sailed heedlessly into the storm, and, with only such precautions taken as referred to mast and sail, had without further concern proceeded on her course. She thus had got into the very heart of the cyclone, and escaped entire destruction only by a fortunate chance.

Now, had her commander considered this storm to have been a real hurricane he would have undoubtedly steered a different course, and probably in that case would have reached the harbour in safety. But the notion of the non-existence of hurricanes in these waters is so pertinaciously maintained that it was no wonder the careful and able Spanish commander had also been misled. Our own opinion is, that any storm in the ocean may a.s.sume a revolving motion, and it is therefore highly advisable always to bear in mind the well-founded theory of cyclones, in order to act upon it, as circ.u.mstances may require. Were this always done, how many valuable lives and property might be saved from destruction!

[Footnote 35: A squall of wind of the South American Pampas.]

[Footnote 36: The following succinct statement of the characteristics and general laws of cyclones will be found useful by way of reference:--

1. It has been fully ascertained that in both hemispheres the air in the cyclone rotates in a direction _contrary_ to that of the sun. Thus, in the N. hemisphere, the course of the sun being from E. to S., W., and N., the course of the hurricane is from N. by W., S., and E.; and in the S.

hemisphere, the sun's course being from E. by N., W., and S., the hurricane runs from N. by E., S., and W.

2. They originate in the s.p.a.ce between the equator and the tropics, near the equatorial limit of the trade winds.

3. There is no instance on record of a hurricane having been encountered on the equator, nor of any one having crossed the Line, although two have been known to be raging at the same time in the same meridian, but on opposite sides of the equator, and only 10 to 12 apart!

4. Their movement, which is always oblique from the equator to the poles, is usually from E. to W. at first, and towards the end W. to E., which is but a development of the gyratory motion that forms their most essential characteristic.

5. The "motion of translation" varies from so low as 9 miles an hour to 43 miles an hour. There is no precise estimate of the velocity of the gyratory motion.

6. They are liable to dilate and contract in area, the contraction always implying a great accession of violence. (See _post_, p. 183.)]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CAPE FRIO.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE QUAY AT RIO.]