38 



THE OCEAN WORLD. 



we think we see in them marine monsters which are prepared for 

 war. A strong, constant, and equal wind produces long swelling 

 billows, which, rising on the same line, advance with a uniform 

 movement, one after the other, precipitating themselves upon the 

 coast. Sometimes these billows are suspended by the wind or 

 arrested by some current, thus forming, as it were, a liquid wall. In 

 this position, unhappy is the daring navigator who is subjected to its 



Fig. 7. — Height of Waves oflf the Cape of Good Hope. 



fury !" The highest waves are those which prevail in the offing off 

 the Cape of Good Hope at the period of high tide, under the influence 

 of a strong north-west wind, which has traversed the South Atlantic, 

 pressing its waters towards the Cape. " The billows there lift 

 themselves up in long ridges," says Dr. Maury, " with deep hollows 

 between them. They run high and fast, tossing their white caps aloft 

 in the air, looking like the green hills of a rolling prairie capped with 

 snow, and chasing each other in sport. Still, their march is stately, 

 and their roll majestic. Many an Australian-bound trader, after 



