Chapter III 



DERELICTS AND ICEBERGS 



I HAVE already mentioned the Doldrums, 

 that portion of the ocean where the airs are 

 light and baffling, and where sailing ships 

 sometimes drifted for a long time without 

 finding a breeze to carry them on their course. 

 As this is the hottest portion of the ocean the 

 sailors often suffered terribly, as their ves- 

 sels rose and fell with flapping, empty sails 

 for day after day and no breath of wind ruf- 

 fled the surface of the smooth and brassy 

 sea. Even the awnings gave little relief ; the 

 water in the casks became hot, foul and rot- 

 ten; the pitch in the deck-seams boiled and 

 bubbled and the captains and crews almost 

 went mad while they drifted helplessly 

 along and waited for a breeze to carry them 

 out of the Doldrums and into the trade winds. 

 At such times the mariners tried to pass 

 away the weary hours by swapping stories of 

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