KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



339 



MARVELS OF THE CREATION. 



The mariner who first crossed the central 

 Atlantic in search of a new world, was 

 astonished when, on v the 19th of September, 

 1492, he found himself in the midst of that 

 great bank of sea-weed — the sea- weed meadow 

 of Oviedo — the Sargasso Sea which, with a 

 varying breadth of 100 to 300 miles, stretches 

 over twenty-five degrees of latitude, 

 covering 260,000 square miles of surface, 

 like a huge floating garden, in which count- 

 less myriads of minute animals find food and 

 shelter. Now, it is the eddy of the numerous 

 sea rivers which collect in one spot, and the 

 cold water of the Northern Atlantic mixing 

 with the warm streams of the western and 

 southern currents, which produce the tem- 

 perature most fitted to promote this amazing 

 development of vegetable and animal life. 

 What becomes of the dead remains of this 

 vast marine growth ? Do they decompose 

 as fast as they are produced? or do they 

 accumulate into deposits of peculiar coal, 

 destined to reward the researches of future 

 geologists and engineers when the Atlantic 

 of our day has become the habitable land of 

 an after-time ? 



In the chart of the Pacific Ocean, we are 

 presented with another remarkable instance 

 of the influence of sea rivers on vegetation. 

 From the shores of South Victoria, on the 

 Antarctic continent, a stream' of cold water, 

 60 degrees in width (our readers will re- 

 collect that in high latitudes the degrees of 

 longitude are very narrow), drifts slowly 

 along in a north-east and easterly direction 

 across the Southern Pacific,^ till it impinges 

 upon the South American coast to the south 

 of Valparaiso. There it divides into two 

 arms ; one of which stretches south and east, 

 doubles Cape Horn, and penetrates into the 

 south-western Atlantic ; the other flows first 

 north-east, and then north-west, along the 

 shores of Chili and Peru, carrying colder waters 

 into the warm sea, and producing a colder 

 air along the low plains which stretch from 

 the shores of the Pacific to the base of the 

 Andes. This current, discovered by Hum- 

 boldt and called after his name, lowers the 

 temperature of the air about twelve degrees ; 

 while that of the water itself is sometimes as 

 much as twenty-four degrees colder than that 

 of the still waters of the ocean through which 

 it runs. 



The cold air seriously affects the vegetation 

 along the whole of this coast ; at the same 

 time that the cold stream raises fogs and mists, 

 which not only conceal the shores and perplex 

 the navigator, but extend inland also, and 

 materially modify the climate. The beautiful 

 and beneficent character of this modifying 

 influence becomes not only apparent, but most 

 impressive, when we consider, as the rain 



map of the world shows us, that on the coast 

 of Peru no rain ever falls ; and that, like the 

 desert Sahara, it ought therefore to be con- 

 demned to perpetual barrenness. But in 

 consequence of the cold stream thus running 

 along its borders," the atmosphere loses its 

 transparency, and the sun is obscured for 

 months together. 



" The vapors at Lima are often so thick, that 

 the sun seen through them with the naked 

 eye assumes the appearance of the moon's 

 disc. They commence in the morning, and 

 extend over the plains in the form of refresh- 

 ing fogs, which disappear soon after mid-day ; 

 and are followed by heavy dews, which are 

 precipitated during the night." The morning 

 mists and the evening dews thus supply the 

 place of the absent rains ; and the verdure 

 which covers the plains is the offspring of a 

 sea river. What a charming myth would 

 the ancient poets have made out of this 

 striking compensation ! 



'TIS SWEET— 'TIS SAD! 



'Tis sweet to mark the violet blow, 

 A spot of Heaven on winter's snow ; 

 To feel the balmy South, in airs 

 That tremble sweet on icy stairs ; 

 And warmth to buried flowerets bring, 

 While birds their first blithe carol sing. 



'Tis joy to mark the tiny face 

 Ripen with traits of blooming grace ; 

 To see the light, thro' dawning sense, 

 Of meaning and intelligence, — 

 While lisping murmurs, careless wiles, 

 Deepen to words, and tears, and smiles. 



'Tis joy to mark the love we store, 

 From little grow to more and more ; 

 Nurtur'd by gentle looks and deeds, 

 To those fair buds, the little seeds, 

 That swell with strength and beauty now 

 To bloom on love's eternal bough. 



'Tis sad to mark the leafy fringe 

 Of woodlands take a deeper tinge ; 

 Amid the fall of ripen 'd fruit 

 The forests don their russet suit ; 

 To note, while breezes moan and sigh, 

 The glorious works of nature die. 



And sad to gather round the bed 

 That shrouds in gloom the silent dead ; 

 To hear the stifled sob, the prayer, 

 From lov'd ones breath'd oppress the air — 

 To take one last deep look, and then 

 To mingle in the strife of men ! 



But sadder yet to feel the love 

 We fondly priz'd all earth above, 

 Grow cold and careless day by day, 

 Till all like dreams hath passed away, — 

 And joys so bright in days of yore 

 Have fled, to beam on earth no more ! 



Peroie. 



