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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



© Publishers' Photo Service 

 THE) FRUIT MARKET ON THE} BEACH AT PANAMA CITY 



This deep, cold current sweeps the 

 depths of the sea and brings up algae that 

 are foreign to these latitudes. The fish 

 follow the algae, and the birds follow the 

 fish. Penguins which belong in the Ant- 

 arctic Circle are living happily off the 

 coast of Peru. 



Much of the wealth of Peru is derived 

 from the guano beds produced by the 

 guano-birds, which are estimated to have 

 an actual value to the state of $15 per 

 pair. The giant condor, which lives at 

 a chilly altitude of 15,000 feet, is able 

 to swoop down to sea-level to prey on 

 guano-birds, thanks to the temperate in- 

 fluence of the i Iumboldt "Current. 



Hut to the old-timers— the flat-feet — 

 these are the Horse Latitudes and the 

 Doldrums. They had many stories to 

 tell of ships becalmed here for weeks, in 

 spite of the whistling of the bos'ns and 

 the throwing overboard of silver money 

 and the affectionate pampering of such 

 Finns as might he on board. 



CROSSING THE UNK 



Sometimes, though not often, an al- 

 batross was sighted. Nor were sharks 



as numerous as the greenhorns had sup- 

 posed. 



After all, the chief interest at this time 

 was in the arrival of Neptune and his 

 courtly party. The men who had crossed 

 the Line before talked of little else for 

 weeks. In every dark corner Neptune 

 and his courtiers swore gruffly at land- 

 lubbers who tried to overhear their de- 

 liberations. 



Costumes were being made and tried 

 on behind locked doors. Some had been 

 brought from New York and some were 

 a part of the permanent equipment of 

 the ship. Most of the dresses of cere- 

 mony had been bought at Panama, how- 

 ever, where the Chinese shopkeepers do 

 a regular business in purveying starry 

 crowns for Neptune himself, and the 

 latest and most shameless lingerie for 

 Amphitrite. 



One or two of the younger and pret- 

 tier seamen were seized upon for pages 

 to be decked out in long silk stockings 

 and permanent blushes. No one was 

 more unhappy aboard than these pages 

 in the days just preceding that of the 

 ceremony. An exception may, perhaps, 



