Part VI 

 THE REMOUS 



"Our Mother the Sea is never at rest, 

 When the spring-tide ebbs dead low; 



As the coming ' remous' boils up on her breast 

 And thunders in caverns below." 



The " remous" is the old French name given to the curious 

 ebullition of the sea and the mill-race-like nature of the 

 currents and cross currents that occur round the islands of 

 the Bocas and the contiguous mainland, when the tide has 

 reached dead-low, and is about to turn for the rise. It varies 

 in power according to the seasons, being much stronger dur- 

 ing the rainy period than the dry, when it is often scarcely 

 perceptible. Its force is always much more in evidence 

 during the spring-tides of the new and full moon, especially 

 during the months of October and November, this being 

 mainly attributable to the mighty Orinoco, which then 

 sweeps down in full flood, swollen from the inundated savan- 

 nahs and torrent-swept mountains of Venezuela. These 

 spring-tides last for five days, two days before the moon, 

 new or full, the day of the new or full moon, and two days 

 after — beginning strong on the first day and gradually wax- 

 ing in intensity until the fifth or last day, which is the strong- 

 est tide of all. 



In the French language the word "remous" has three 

 different applications : 



1 . It is the sea term for the swell formed by the displace- 

 ment of water caused by a ship travelling through the water. 



2. It is the re-gathering of water that has hurled and 

 broken against an obstacle such as some solid body. For 

 instance, the famous voyager Lapeyrouse, mentions in his 

 travels: " My boat was floating near the shore, a mass of ice 



