BED FOGS AXD SEA BREEZES. 145 



the land and sea breezes in the Jara Sea and upon the coasts of 

 the northern range of islands, Banca, Borneo, Celebes, etc., 

 during the east monsoon, must in part be ascribed to the 

 hindrances Avhich the south-east trade-wind meets in the islands 

 which lie directly in its vra,j — in part to the inclination towards 

 the east monsoon which the trade-^Wnd 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." 



322. Bed fogs in the Mediterranean. — Seamen tell us of " red 

 fogs " which they sometimes encounter, especially in the vicinity 

 of the Cape de Terd Islands. In other parts of the sea, also, they 

 meet showers of dust. What these showers precipitate in the 

 MediteiTanean is calle'I "sirocco dust," and in other parts 

 ''African dust,"* because the winds which accompany them are 

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

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

 colour, and it sometimes comes down in such quantities as to 

 obscure the' sun, darken the horizon, and cover the sails and 

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

 himdreds of miles from the land. 



323. Red fogs near the equator. — Dr. Clj'mer, Fleet-siu'geon of 

 the African squadi'on, reports a red fog which was encountered 

 in February, IS 50. by the U. S. ship Jamestown. " We were," 

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

 on the night of the 9th of Februaiy, in lat. 7° 30' X., and long. 

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

 zone of the equatorial calms into the north-east trades) on the 

 loth instant, in lat. 9^ X., and long. 19° W. With these winds, 

 we beat to Porto Praya (in lat. 14° 54' X. and long. 23'^ 30' W.), 

 crossing a south-west current of nearly a mile an hour, arriving 

 at Porto Praya on the 22nd of February. The red dust settled 

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

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

 or cinnamon colour. The atmosphere was so dusky that we 

 could not have seen a ship at mid-da}' beyond a quarter of a 

 mile.''t 



324. Putting tallies on the icind. — Xow the patient r.^ader, who 



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



t See Sailing Directions, Stb ed., vol ii., p. 377. 



