KED FOGS AXD SEA BREEZES. 137 



when, 30^ or 40° above the horizon, a fire-ball arises which sud- 

 denly illumines the whole horizon, appearing to the eye the size 

 of the fist, and fading :iway as suddenly as it appeared, falling into 

 fiery nodules, then we perceive that, in the apparent calm of 

 nature, various forces are constantly active, in order to cause, even 

 in the invisible air, such combinations and combustions, the appear- 

 ance of which amazes the crevv-s of ships. When the slender keel 

 glides quicldy over the mirrored waters upon the wings of the 

 wind, it cuts for itself a sparkling way, and distm-bs in their sleep 

 the monsters of the deep, which whirl and dart quicker than an 

 eight-knot ship ; sweeping and tm-ning around their distm'ber,, 

 they suddenly clothe the dark smface of the water in brilliancy. 

 .A.gain, when we go beyond the hmits of the land breeze, and come 

 into the continuous trade-wind, we occasionally see from the low- 

 moving, round black clouds (unless it thunders), light blue sparks 

 collected upon the extreme points of the iron belaying-pins, etc. ;* 

 then the crew appear to fear a new danger, against which courage 

 is unavailing, and which the mind can find no j^O'^^'er to endm^e. 

 The fervent, fiery natm^e insphes the traveller with deep avve. 

 They who, mider the beating of the storm and terrible violence 

 of the ocean, look danger courageously in the face, feel, in the pre- 

 sence of these phenomena, insignificant, feeble, anxious. Then they 

 perceive the mighty power of the Creator over the works of his 

 creation. And how can the uncertain, the undetermined sensa- 

 tions arise which are produced by the clear yet sad light of the 

 moon ? she who has always great tears in her eyes, while the stars 

 look sweetly at her, as if they loved to trust her and to share her 

 affliction.! In the latter part of the night the land breeze sinks 

 to sleep, for it seldom continues to blow with strength, but is. 

 always fickle and capricious. With the break of day it again 

 awakes, to sport a while, and then gradually dies away as the sun 

 rises. The time at which it becomes calm after the land and sea 

 breezes is indefinite, and the calms are of unequal duration. Ge- 

 nerally, those which precede the sea breeze are rather longer than 

 those which precede the land breeze. The temperatm-e of the 



* I have seen this hi a remarkable degree upon the south coast of Java ; these 

 sparks were then seen six feet above the deck, upon the frames of timber (Jcoussen 

 der hlohken), in the implements, etc. — Jansen. 



t Some one has ventured the remark that at full moon, near the equator, more 

 dew falls than at new moon, and to this are ascribed the moonheads {maan 

 Iwofdcn), which I have seen, liowever, but once dmiug all the years which I have 

 spent between the tropics.— Jansex. 



