58 



CEREMONIES REMARKS. 



Feb. 



at the time, and talk of it long afterwards, cannot easily be 

 judged of without being an eye-witness. 



During the early ages of navigation, before the invention of 

 the compass, somewhat similar, though really ceremonious 

 rites were observed in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian ves- 

 sels, when they passed the more remarkable promontories then 

 known. A modern voyager, Kotzebue, notices this subject in a 

 manner which appears to me so sensible, that I shall quote his 

 words without affecting to add another remark. 



" On the 11th of October we crossed the Equator, at twenty- 

 five degrees west longitude, reckoning from Greenwich. Hav- 

 ing saluted the southern hemisphere by the firing of guns, our 

 crew proceeded to enact the usual ceremonies. A sailor, who 

 took pride in having frequently passed the line, directed the 

 performance with much solemnity and decorum. He appeared 

 as Neptune, attired in a manner that was meant to be terribly 

 imposing, accompanied by his consort, seated on a gun-car- 

 riage instead of a shell, drawn by negroes, as substitutes for 

 tritons. In the evening the sailors represented, amidst general 

 applause, a comedy of their own composition. 



" These sports, while they serve to keep up the spirits of the 

 men, and make them forget the difficulties they have to go 

 through, produce also the most beneficial influence upon their 

 health ; a cheerful man being much more capable of resisting 

 a fit of sickness than a melancholy one. It is the duty of com- 

 manders to use every innocent means of maintaining this temper 

 in their crews ; for, in long voyages, when they are several 

 months together wandering on an element not destined by nature 

 for the residence of man, without enjoying even occasionally the 

 recreations of the land, the mind naturally tends to melancholy, 

 which of itself lays the foundation of many diseases, and some- 

 times even of insanity. Diversion is often the best medicine, and 

 used as a preservative, seldom fails of its efi'ect." — (Kotzebue''s 

 Voyage, 1823-26.) 



Before sunset on the 19th we saw the island of Fernando 

 Noronha, with its singular peak towering aloft, and at mid- 

 night anchored in the roadstead. 



