58 Crossing the Line 



1791, continued 



ceremony on the bank of Newfoundland, and whatever the spot, the leader 

 of the masquerade is always "the Old Man of the Tropics." To the sailors, 

 tropical and hydropical are interchangeable terms: the Old Man of the 

 Tropics therefore has an enormous paunch; he is dressed, even when beneath 

 his native Tropics, in all the sheepskins and all the furred jackets that the 

 crew can supply. He sits squatting in the main-top and roaring from time to 

 time. Every one looks at him from below; he begins to cHmb down the 

 shrouds, moving heavily like a bear, and stumbling like Silenus. As he sets 

 foot on deck, he utters fresh roars, gives a bound, seizes a pail, fills it with 

 sea-water, and empties it over the chief of those who have not crossed the 

 Equator or who have not reached the line of ice. You fly beneath the decks, 

 you spring upon the hatches, you clamber up the masts: Old Father Tropics 

 is after you; all this ends in a generous gift of drink-money: games of Amphi- 

 trite which Homer would have celebrated, even as he sang Proteus, if old 

 Oceanus had been known in his entirety in the time of Ulysses; but, in those 

 days, only his head was visible at the Pillars of Hercules : his body lay hidden 

 and covered the world. 



( The Memoirs of François René Vicomte de Chateaubriand. Translation 

 by Alexander Teixeira de Mattes of the Mémoires d'outre-tombe with 

 illustrations from contemporary sources. London, 1902. v. 1, p. 200. ) 



If we mean zero latitude by "crossing the line" this tale is ruled out. If, however, we are willing 

 to admit that the ceremony marks the crossing from one region to another supposed to bring with 

 it dangers inevitable unless certain vows are made and certain actions taken, then this — hitherto 

 — most northerly record may rightfully claim and demand a place. The dress in "all the furred 

 jackets that the crew can supply" fits in well with tradition harking back to northern, cold climates. 

 We have seen something hke it before when the King comes on deck shaking and trembling. The 

 one constant and universal element is the "generous gift of drink-money." 



Henningsen says the custom is common today on Danish ships sailing to Greenland. 



1792 



By such means as these [ventilation, cleaning, attention to good food, etc.] 

 the men gradually recovered; and were prepared to enjoy the festivities usual 

 on the passage of the Line. No doubt, the entrance into another hemisphere, 

 when it was first made, must have been an event arresting the attention, and 

 filling the minds of those, in every station, who were witnesses of it. And the 

 commander who, for the first time, had the good fortune to cross the Line, 

 probably indulged his crew in testifying a joy he must sincerely have felt 

 himself. The lower orders of mankind, who know httle of hfe except its 

 labours, are not easily forgetful of any occasion, recurring to them so seldom, 

 of enjoying a momentary gleam of happiness and independence. It recon- 

 ciles them to subsequent subordination, and, even, suffering. They seldom 

 abuse the indulgence thus allowed them; and frequently tire, in a little time, 

 of what they entered upon with so much eagerness, and conceived to be 

 productive of so much pleasure; and feeling that idleness ceases soon to be 



