The atmosphere was dull and hazy, and even in our own raw
fatherland the sky could not have been so overcast, except upon some
days in November. Every evening the clouds were piled upon one
another in such a way that we were continually expecting to see a
water-spout; it was generally not before midnight that the heavens
would gradually clear up, and allow us to admire the beautiful and
dazzling constellations of the South.
The captain told us that this was the fourteenth voyage he had made
to the Brazils, during which time he had always found the heat very
easily borne, and had never seen the sky otherwise than dull and
lowering. He said that this was occasioned by the damp, unhealthy
coast of Guinea, the ill effects of which were perceptible much
further than where we then were, although the distance between us
was 350 miles.
In the tropics the quick transition from day to night is already
very perceptible; 35 or 40 minutes after the setting of the sun the
deepest darkness reigns around. The difference in the length of day
and night decreases more and more the nearer you approach the
Equator. At the Equator itself the day and night are of equal
duration.
All the 14th and 15th of August we sailed parallel with the Cape de
Verde Islands, from which we were not more than 23 miles distant,
but which, on account of the hazy state of the weather, we could not
see.
During this period we used to be much amused by small flocks of
flying-fish, which very often rose from the water so near the ship's
side that we were enabled to examine them minutely. They are
generally of the size and colour of a herring; their side fins,
however, are longer and broader, and they have the power of
spreading and closing them like little wings. They raise themselves
about twelve or fifteen feet above the water, and then, after flying
more than a distance of a hundred feet, dive down again for a moment
beneath the waves, to recommence directly afterwards: this occurs
most frequently when they are pursued by bonitos or other foes.
When they were flying at some distance from the ship they really
looked like elegant birds. We very frequently saw the bonitos also,
who were pursuing them, endeavour to raise themselves above the
water, but they seldom succeeded in raising more than their head.
It is very difficult to catch one of these little denizens of the
air, as they are to be secured neither by nets or hooks; but
sometimes the wind will drive them, during the night, upon the deck,
where they are discovered, in the morning, dead, not having
sufficient strength to raise themselves from dry places; in this way
I obtained a few specimens.
Today, August 15th, we enjoyed a most interesting sight. We
happened, exactly at 12 o'clock, to be in the sun's zenith, and the
sunbeams fell so perpendicularly that every object was perfectly
shadowless. We put books, chairs, ourselves in the sun, and were
highly delighted with this unusual kind of amusement. Luckily we
had chanced to be at the right spot at the right time; had we, at
the same hour, been only one degree nearer or one degree further, we
should have lost the entire sight; when we saw it we were 14 degrees
6' (a minute is equal to a nautical mile).
All observations with the sextant {9} were out of the question until
we were once more some degrees from the zenith.
17th August. Shoals of tunny-fish, (fish four and five feet long,
and belonging to the dolphin tribe,) were seen tumbling about the
ship. A harpoon was quickly procured, and one of the sailors sent
out with it on the bowsprit; but whether he had bad luck, or was
unskilled in the art of harpooning, he missed his mark. The most
wonderful part of the story, though, was that all the fish
disappeared as if by magic, and did not appear again for some days;
it seemed as if they had whispered and warned each other of the
threatened danger.
All the oftener, however, did we see another inhabitant of the sea,
namely, that beautiful mollusca, the physolida, called by the
sailors Portugiesisches Segel-schiff; (Portuguese sailing-ship.)
When floating upon the surface of the sea, with its long crest,
which it can elevate or depress at pleasure, it really resembles a
delicate tiny little sailing vessel. I was very desirous of
catching one of these little creatures, but this could only be
effected by means of a net, which I had not got, nor had I either
needle or twine to make one. Necessity, however, is the mother of
invention; so I manufactured a knitting needle of wood, unravelled
some thick string, and in a few hours possessed a net. Very soon
afterwards a mollusca had been captured, and placed in a tub filled
with sea water. The little creature's body is about six inches long
and two inches high; the crest extends over the whole of the back,
and in the middle, where it is highest, measures about an inch and a
half. Both the crest and body are transparent, and appear as if
tinged with rose colour; from the belly, which is violet, are
suspended a number of threads or arms of the same colour.
I hung the little thing up to dry at the stern, outside the ship;
some of the threads reached down into the water (a depth of at least
twelve feet), but most of them fell off. After the animal was dead,
the crest remained erect, and the body perfectly filled out, but the
beautiful rose colour gradually changed to white.
18th August. Today we had a heavy thunder-storm, for which we were
very grateful, as it cooled the air considerably.
