§ 322, 323. EED FOGS AND SEA BREEZES. 139 



guished from the gentle land-breeze. The regularity of the laiul 

 and sea breezes in the Java Sea and upon the coasts of the north- 

 ern range of islands, Banca, Borneo, Celebes, etc., during the east 

 monsoon, must in part be ascribed to the hinderances which the 

 southeast trade-wind meets in the islands which lie directly in its 

 way — in part to the inclination toward the east monsoon which 

 the trade- wind undergoes after it has come within the archipelago 

 — and, finally, to its abatement as it approaches the equator. The 

 causes which produce the land-breezes thus appear collectively 

 not sufficiently powerful to be able to turn back a strong trade- 

 wind in the ocean." 



822. Seamen tell us of " red fogs" which they sometimes en- 

 Red fogs in the Medi- counter, especially in the vicinity of the Cape de 

 terranean. Yerd Islauds. In othcr parts of the sea also they 

 meet showers of dust. What these showers precipitate in the 

 Mediterranean is called "sirocco dust," and in other parts "Afri- 

 can dust,"* because the winds which accompany them are sup- 

 posed to come from the Sirocco desert, or some other parched 

 land of the continent of Africa. It is of a brick-red or cinnamon 

 color, and it sometimes comes down in such quantities as to ob- 

 scure the sun, darken the horizon, and cover the sails and rigging 

 with a thick coating of dust, though the vessel may be hundreds 

 of miles from the land. 



823. Dr. Clymer, Fleet-surgeon of the African squadron, re- 

 Red fogs near the po^ts a red fog which was encountered in February, 

 equator! ^35^^ 1^^ ^^^ jj g^ ^^-^^ Jamcstown. " We were," 



says he, "immersed in the dust-fog six days, entering it abruptly 

 on the night of the 9th of February, in lat. 7° 80' K, and long. 

 15° W., and emerging from it (and at the same time from the 

 zone of the equatorial calms into the northeast trades) on the loth 

 instant, in lat. 9° N., and long. 19° W. With these winds we 

 beat to Porto Praya (in lat. 14° 54' K, and long. 28° 80' W.), 

 crossing a southwest current of nearly a mile an hour, arriving at 

 Porto Praya on the 22d of February. The red dust settled thick- 

 ly on the sails, rigging, spars, and decks, from which it was easily 

 collected. It was an impalpable powder, of a brick-dust or cinna- 

 mon color. The atmosphere was so dusky that we could not 

 have seen a ship at midday beyond a quarter of a mile."f 



* Prof. Ehrenberg calls it " Sea-dust." 



t Seo Sailing Directions, 8th ed., vol. ii., p. 377. 



