Christinas at Sea. jjo 



forwards, till at last, on the 24th Decemhcr, in C 4' S. Lat., 

 and 82° 34' E. Long., we reached the eastern boundaries of the 

 Trades and got into that of calms. 



The heat, which thus far had spared us, began now to be 

 most oppressive, and was felt all the more owing to the air 

 being extraordinarily damp and dense. Frequently in the 

 afternoon a passing shower of rain, which would sometimes 

 completely flood the deck, would cool the air for a few fleeting 

 moments. Occasionally indeed we had westerly and more 

 rarely north-westerly breezes, but these were never of long 

 duration, and were incessantly broken by rains and squalls. 



And at this same season, at which in our distant Fatherland, 

 palace and hut are decked out with unwonted attention, when 

 golden fruits and elegant presents glitter from the green fir- 

 branches of the Christmas Tree, all lit up with the neat little 

 wax-tapers, when man's heart seems to overflow with cheerful- 

 ness and love of his fellow-creatures, — at this season we were 

 languishing far from our dear ones, tormented with the intense 

 heat, scarcely able to realize to ourselves, that at home it must 

 now be snow and frost, w^hile keen Boreas is whirling the 

 snowflakes aloft, and howling a grim accompaniment the while ! 

 However, we promised ourselves the satisfaction of enjoying 

 these pleasures at our own firesides, whereupon our recollections 

 of home and dear friends imparted to our minds a wholesome 

 ' stimulus, arising from the soul-inspiring conviction, that we too 

 were present in their minds and hearts at this hallowed season. 

 Nay, several of the officers of the Novara Expedition were sur- 



z 2 . 



