112 TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



of the southern hemisphere, were hkewise low. 

 From this, as well as from the nautical observ- 

 ations, we knew that the equator was still some 

 degrees to the south of us ; but the uniformity and 

 harmony in the phenomena of nature, which we 

 had observed between the 10th and 5th parallels 

 of latitude, seemed again to decrease, and thus to 

 prove that the line of culmination of those pheno- 

 mena is not in the equator, but several degrees to 

 the north of it. We must leave it to the natural 

 philosopher and the astronomer to decide whether 

 this, perhaps, may arise partly from the heavier mass 

 of continents, from the nutation, or from the re- 

 volution of the earth round the sun, &c. It is re- 

 markable in this respect, that the N.E. and S.E. 

 trade winds do not cease at an equal distance from 

 the equator. The trade winds, which are supposed 

 to arise from the rotation of the earth round its 

 axis, and from the current of colder air to- 

 wards the warmer region between the tropics, 

 regularly vary in their extent, according to the po- 

 sition of the sun. When it is in the southern torrid 

 zone, the N.E. wind always blows towards the 

 equator ; when it is in the northern torrid zone, 

 the S.E. wind blows nearer to, nay, even beyond 

 it. Between the two trade winds, there are some- 

 times faint winds, especially from S. and S. S. W. 

 which are more limited by the first, sometimes 

 on the north and sometimes on the south. The 

 boundary of the N, E. trade winds in the Atlantic 



