The Variables Constitute
The Belt Of Ocean Lying Between The Trades And The Doldrums, And Are
Conjectured To Be The
Draughts of heated air which rise in the
doldrums, flow high in the air counter to the trades, and gradually
Sink down till they fan the surface of the ocean where they are
found. And they are found where they are found; for they are wedged
between the trades and the doldrums, which same shift their
territory from day to day and month to month.
We found the variables in 11 degrees north latitude, and 11 degrees
north latitude we hugged jealously. To the south lay the doldrums.
To the north lay the northeast trade that refused to blow from the
northeast. The days came and went, and always they found the Snark
somewhere near the eleventh parallel. The variables were truly
variable. A light head-wind would die away and leave us rolling in
a calm for forty-eight hours. Then a light head-wind would spring
up, blow for three hours, and leave us rolling in another calm for
forty-eight hours. Then - hurrah! - the wind would come out of the
west, fresh, beautifully fresh, and send the Snark along, wing and
wing, her wake bubbling, the log-line straight astern. At the end
of half an hour, while we were preparing to set the spinnaker, with
a few sickly gasps the wind would die away. And so it went. We
wagered optimistically on every favourable fan of air that lasted
over five minutes; but it never did any good.
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