44 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



the force of the wind, which raged with \dolence throughout 

 the night, at one time blowing 11, while the ship rolled 

 30° in each direction. By the afternoon of next day, 

 however, it appeared to have expended itself, and gradually 

 fell, being succeeded by a beautiful calm night ; and on the 

 morning of the 22d it was calm, so that the sails were taken 

 in, and we went on under steam alone * On that day, which 

 was very fine, a number of albatrosses, which had been our com- 

 panions during the gale, were no longer to be seen ; and the 

 influence of the muddy waters of the Eio de la Plata was 

 indicated by the transition in the colour of the sea from deep 

 blue to dull green. 



On the 23d land was reported soon after sunrise. As 

 we steamed up the estuary of the Plate, the low land on the 

 northern shore, between Maldonado and Monte Video, brought 

 to my remembrance my first sight of the Dutch coast, to 

 which it bears a considerable resemblance in respect of its 

 sand-dunes, with the low-lying, mostly treeless country 

 beyond them, dotted here and there with windmills. A large 

 wasp flew on board in an exhausted condition, and about the 

 same time the rigging of the ship became covered with 

 immense quantities of cobweb. Everywhere long delicate 

 threads could be seen streaming out into the air, and a con- 

 siderable number of their constructor, a minute reddish-brown 

 spider, were to be observed associated with them. This 

 curious phenomenon is of frequent occurrence in the Plate on 

 a fine day after stormy weather. We witnessed it again in 

 the same locality in the following season, and Mr. Darwin 

 has given an interesting account, of it in his delightful 



* For various of these details I am indebted to Captain Mayne's private 

 journal ; that gentleman having, as I have mentioned in the preface, most 

 kindly placed his journal at my disposal. 



