20 ENGLAND TO RIO DE JANEIRO CHAP, i 



see the different faces that were made on this occasion, some 

 grinning and exulting in their hardiness, whilst others were 

 almost suffocated, and came up ready enough to have com- 

 pounded after the first or second duck, had such a proceeding 

 been allowable. 



Almost immediately after crossing the tropic the air had 

 sensibly become much damper than usual, though not 

 materially hotter : the thermometer in general stood from 

 80 to 82. The nearer we approached to the calms, the 

 damper everything grew ; this was very perceptible even to 

 the human body, but more remarkable was its effect upon 

 all kinds of furniture. Everything made of iron rusted so 

 fast that the knives in people's pockets became almost use- 

 less, and the razors in cases did not escape ; all kinds of 

 leather became mouldy, portfolios and trunks covered with 

 black leather were almost white. Soon afterwards this 

 mould adhered to almost everything ; all the books in my 

 library became mouldy, so that they had to be wiped to 

 preserve them. 



About this time we came into the calms, which we met 

 with earlier than usual: the thermometer was then at 83, 

 and we suffered from the heat and damp together. Bathing, 

 however, kept me in perfect health, although many of the 

 ship's company were ill of bilious complaints, which, how- 

 ever, were but of short duration. This continued till we 

 got the S.E. trade, when the air became cooler, but the 

 dampness continued yet : to that I chiefly attribute the ill- 

 success of the electrical experiments, of which I have written 

 an account in separate papers, that the different experiments 

 may appear at one view. 1 



The air, during the whole time since we crossed the 

 tropic, and indeed for some time before, has been nearly of 

 the same temperature throughout the twenty -four hours, the 

 thermometer seldom rising more than a degree during the 

 time the sun is above the horizon ; the cabin windows have 

 been open without once being shut ever since we left Madeira. 



2 9 tk. This evening the sea appeared uncommonly beautiful, 

 1 An account of these will be found at the end of the volume. 



