136 THE THYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



320. But on the opposite side — on the coast of Brazil, as at Per- 

 Land-breeze ia Bra- nambuco, fop instance — wheic the trade-wind comes 

 zii and Cuba. from the sca, wc should have this condition of things 



reversed, and the sea-breeze will prevail for most of the time — 

 then it is the land-breeze which is feeble and of short duration : it 

 is rarely felt. Again, the land and sea breezes in Cuba, and along 

 the Gulf shores of the United States, will be more regular in their 

 alternations than they are along the shores of Brazil or South Af- 

 rica, and for the simple reason that the Gulf shores lie nearly par- 

 allel with the prevailing direction of the winds. In Eio de Ja- 

 neiro, the sea-breeze is the regular trade-wind made fresher by the 

 daily action of the sun on the land. It is worthy of remark, also, 

 that, for the reason stated by Jansen, the land and sea breezes in 

 the winter time are almost unknown in countries of severe cold, 

 though in the summer the alternation of wind from land to sea, 

 and sea to land, may be well marked. 



821. " Happy he," remarks Jansen, " who, in the Java Sea at 

 Night scene3 when cvcuing, sccking the land-brcczc off the coast, finds 



Bailing with the land- . n i t t • • • t i 



breeze. it there, alter the salt-beanng, roaring sea-wmd, and 



can, in the magnificent nights of the tropics, breathe the refresh- 

 ing land-breeze, ofttimes laden with delicious odors.* The veil 

 of clouds, either after a squall, with or without rain, or after the 

 coming of the land-breeze, is speedily withdrawn, and leaves the 

 sky clearer during the night, only now and then flecked with dark 

 clouds floating over from the land. Without these floating clouds 

 the land-breeze is feeble. When the clouds float away from the 

 sea, the land-breeze does not go far out from the coast, or is whol- 

 ly replaced by the sea-breeze, or, rather, by the trade-wind. If 

 the land-breeze continues, then the stars loom forth, as if to free 

 themselves from the dark vault of the heavens, but their light does 

 not wholly vanquish its deep blue, which causes the cold sacks to 

 come out more distinctly near the Southern Cross, as it smiles 

 consolingly upon us, while Scorpio, the emblem of the tropical cli- 

 mate, stands like a warning in the heavens. The starlight, which 

 is reflected by the mirrored waters, causes the nights to vie in 

 clearness with the early twilight in high latitudes. Numerous 

 shooting stars weary the eye, although they break the monotony 

 of the sparkling firmament. Their unceasing motion in the un- 



* In the Roads of Batavia, however, they are not very agreeable. — Jansen. 



