1830. FUEGIANS — PASSAGES. 3 



huge fish, a land animal, or the devil (of whom they have a 

 notion in their country), they could not decide ; neither could 

 they understand the attempted explanations of our sailor?, 

 who tried to make them comprehend its nature : but, indeed, 

 I think that no one who remembers standing, for the first time, 

 near a railway, and witnessing the rapid approach of a steam- 

 engine, with its attached train of carriages, as it dashed along, 

 smoking and snorting, will be surprised at the effect which a 

 large steam-ship, passing at full speed near the Beagle, in a 

 dark night, must have had on these ignorant, though rather 

 intelligent barbarians. 



Before relating occurrences subsequent to our arrival in 

 England, I must ask permission to make the first of a few 

 nautical remarks that will be found in this volume, some of 

 which, I hope, may be useful to young sailors. 



Our passage across the Atlantic, from Rio de Janeiro to 

 Falmouth, was unusually long. In order to sail within sight 

 of the Cape Verd Islands, for a particular purpose, we steered 

 eastward from the coast of Brazil, and crossed the equator far 

 east. This course, unavoidable in our case, carried us into that 

 tract of ocean, between the trade-winds, which in August and 

 September is subject to westerly winds — sometimes extremely 

 strong — and we encountered a very heavy gale, although so 

 near the equator. Afterwards, when close to our own shores, we 

 were unfortunate enough to be delayed by what seamen call a 

 hard-hearted easterly wind ; and not until the middle of October 

 were we moored in a British port. 



As a remarkable contrast, a Falmouth packet, which sailed 

 from Rio de Janeiro some time after our departure, steered 

 northward, as soon as she had cleared the coast of Brazil, 

 crossed the line far to the west, and arrived in England a fort- 

 night before us. 



My own humble opinion, with respect to crossing the equa- 

 tor, is, that an outward-bound ship ought to cross near twenty- 

 five— and that one homeward-bound may go even beyond 

 thirty degrees of west longitude — but should not attempt to 

 pass eastward of twenty-five. Ships crossing the line between 



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