THE HURRICANE SEASON. 175 



and coolest, and the birds in perfect plumage. In 

 April commence light showers, which sometimes ex- 

 tend through June, and are of daily occurrence. The 

 heat increases, and the months of August and Sep- 

 tember are the hottest, as they are the sickliest, of 

 the year. August ushers in the season of storms 

 and hurricanes, when the calm intervals are almost 

 insupportable on account of the heat. The last three 

 months of the year constitute the season of the great 

 rains, when for days together the rain falls heavily. 

 These are the months for endemic fevers. Though 

 the storms are frequently accompanied by thunder 

 and lightning, I did not see, during my stay of nearly 

 two years, such furious displays as I have witnessed 

 in the North. 



We drifted south of Antigua without a breeze. The 

 morning and the afternoon saw Antigua's hills not 

 far away ; and the long, hot day was spent upon 

 a motionless sea, without a breath of wind to fan 

 our flapping sails. At sunset Guadeloupe's windward 

 island was in sight — a low, flat land, with misty 

 mountains far to westward. The triple peak of Mont- 

 serrat showed black against a glowing sky ; the sun 

 in its descent drew a pathway of gold along the sil- 

 very sea and darted into our faces its fiery beams. 



" The western wave was all aflame ; 

 The day was well-nigh done." 



In heat and discomfort the day went out ; but dark- 

 ness had scarcely enveloped us when the sea began to 

 dimple with little wavelets, that increased and lapped 

 with refreshing sound against our vessel's sides ; then 

 the sails felt the coming of the evening breeze, and 



