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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by \Y. J. Petei 



ARGUMENTATIVE ALBATROSSES ON THE DECK Otf THE CARNEGIE 



When captured with hook and line (see text, page 651) and hauled on board, these great 

 birds were prisoners, although never fettered or wing-clipped. They had not sufficient space 

 in which to get the necessary running start preparatory to taking the air. One of the oddities of 

 their life on shipboard was their susceptibility to seasickness, caused by the rolling motion of the 

 vessel. 



sidered inadvisable to remain there long 

 enough to carry out any shore work. 



The chief article of export from Dakar 

 seemed to be the groundnut, or small pea- 

 nut, thousands of tons of this oil-produc- 

 ing product being stacked up in the open 

 awaiting shipment to France. 



After taking on fresh water and sup- 

 plies, the Carnegie sailed away for Buenos 

 Aires after a short stay of four days. 



Skirting the coast of Liberia, we passed 

 within a mile of Cape Palmas and had a 

 good view of the 1919 eclipse station. 

 Sailing on eastward past the Gold Coast, 

 we soon headed south off the Bight of 

 Benin, across the Gulf of Guinea, to pick 

 up the southeast trade wind, after which 

 we had a direct run for Buenos Aires. 



TAKING OBSERVATIONS BY STARS AND 

 LIGHTNING 



For two nights before entering the 

 River Plate (Rio de la Plata), we were 

 visited by heavy winds and rainstorms 

 from the southwest, called tempesturas, 



frequently met with off the Argentine 

 coast. No sails could be set, and the ves- 

 sel was driven helplessly in a torrential 

 rainfall, with the wind seeming to shift 

 about in all directions. After a few hours 

 the storm passed to the eastward, and the 

 western sky and horizon cleared 



As we were due to make a landfall the 

 next morning, it was important that we 

 obtain our position that night, in order to 

 steer the proper course for the entrance 

 to the river. Accordingly, observations 

 on two stars were taken and our position 

 was determined at about 1 o 3 clock in the 

 morning of a dark, moonless night, alti- 

 tudes being measured when the western 

 horizon was illuminated momentarily by 

 the lightning flashes from the storm re- 

 ceding toward the east. 



With the sextant we would "bring the 

 star down" to the point where we as- 

 sumed the horizon to be, wait for a flash 

 of lightning, and then make a quick set- 

 ting or measurement of the altitude when 

 the flash came. 



