360 I'iiE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



saiiin- throu-h the contemplatioH of nature forces from the sailor were 

 trade-wind. recordcd in the log-books, how much farther should 



we be advanced in the knowledge of the natural state of the sea ! 

 Once wandering over the ocean, he begins to be impressed by the 

 grand natural ttibleau around him with feelings deep and abiding. 

 The most splendid forecastle is lost in the viewless surface, and 

 brings home to us the knowledge of our nothingness ; the great- 

 est ship is a plaything for the billows, and the slender keel seems 

 to threaten our existence every moment. But when the eye of 

 the mind is permitted to wander through space and into the depths 

 of the ocean, and is able to form a conception of Infinity and of 

 Omnipotence, then it knows no danger ; it is elevated — it compre- 

 hends itself. The distances of the heavenly bodies are correctly 

 estimated ; and, enlightened by astronomy, with the aid of the 

 art of navigation, of which Maury's Wind and Current Charts 

 form an important part, the shipmaster marks out his way over 

 the ocean just as securely as any one can over an extended heath. 

 He directs his course toward the Cape Verd Islands, and is car- 

 ried there by the lively trade-wind. Yet beyond the islands, 

 sooner or later, according to the month, the clear skies begin to 

 be clouded, the trade-wind abates and becomes unsteady, the 

 clouds heap up, the thunder is heard, heavy rains fall ; finally, the 

 stillness is deathlike, and we have entered the belt of calms. This 

 belt moves toward the north from May to September. It is a re- 

 markable phenomenon that the annual movements of the trades 

 and calm belts from south to north, and back again, do not directly 

 follow the sun in its declination, but appear to wait until the tem- 

 perature of the sea-water puts it in motion. If a ship which has 

 come into the belt of calms between May and September could 

 lie still in the place where it came into this belt — cast anchor, for 

 example — then it would perceive a turning of the monsoon or of 

 the trade-wind. It would see the belt of calms draw away to the 

 north, and afterward get the southwest monsoon, or, standing 

 more westerly, perhaps the southeast trade. On the contrary, 

 later than September, this ship lying at anchor will see the north- 

 east gradually awake. The belt of calms then moves toward the 

 south, and removes from the ship, which remains there anchored 

 on the north side."'^ 



* Natunrkundige Beschrijving der zeeen, door M. F. Maury, LL.D., Luitenant 



