§ 311-313. RED FOGS AND SEA BREEZES. 127 



CHAPTER YL 



§ 311-382. — RED FOGS AND SEA BREEZES. 



311. The inhabitants of the sea-shore in tropical countries wait 

 The alternations of evcrj moming with impaticncc the coming of the 

 land and sea breezes, g^^ breczc. It usually scts in about ten o'clock. 

 Then the sultry heat of the oppressive morning is dissipated, and 

 there is a delightful freshness in the air which seems to give new 

 life to all for their daily labors. About sunset there is again an- 

 other calm. The sea breeze is now done, and in a short time the 

 land breeze sets in. This alternation of the land and sea breeze 

 — a wind from the sea by day and from the land by night — is so 

 regular in intertropical countries, that they are looked for by the 

 people with as much confidence as the rising and setting of the sun. 



312. In extra-tropical countries, especially those on the polar 

 The sea breeze at ^^^^ of the trade- wiuds, this phenomenon is present- 

 vaiparaiso. ^^ q^-^j jj^ summcr and fall, when the heat of the 

 sun is sufficiently intense to produce the requisite degree of atmos- 

 pherical rarefaction over the land. This depends in a measure, 

 also, upon the character of the land upon which the sea breeze 

 blows ; for when the surface is arid and the soil barren, the heat- 

 ing power of the sun is exerted with most effect. In such cases 

 the sea breeze amounts to a gale of wind. In the summer of the 

 southern hemisphere the sea breeze is more powerfully developed 

 at Valparaiso than at any other place to which my services afloat 

 have led me. Here regularly in the afternoon, at this season, the 

 sea breeze blows furiously ; pebbles are torn up from the walks 

 and whirled about the streets ; ^ people seek shelter; the Almen- 

 dral is deserted, business interrupted, and all communication from 

 the shipping to the shore is cut off". Suddenly the winds and the 

 sea, as if they had again heard the voice of rebuke, are hushed, 

 and there is a great calm. 



313. The lull that follows is delightful. The sky is without a 

 The contrast, cloud ; the atmosphcrc is transparency itself; the 



Andes seem to draw near ; the climate, always mild and soft, be- 



