TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



83 



hoped to find again in the luxuriant America, so 

 rich in the wonders of nature ; the idea of bidding 

 farewell to Europe, the seat of civilisation and 

 intellectual superiority ; every thing combined to 

 make the passage between the Pillars of Hercules 

 into the ocean, a moment in our lives never to be 

 forgotten. 



At six o'clock in the evening the last points of the 

 European and African coasts vanished from our eyes, 

 and we were in the midst of the ocean ; the waves 

 rose majestically o ver each other, and seemed to swal- 

 low up the vessels as they glided down into their 

 deep hollows ; the ocean itself, like the serene firma- 

 ment above it, showed as it were, in its deep blue, ^ 

 an image of its unfathomable depth. Each of the 

 ships that had sailed with us, henceforth guided 

 by the compass, pursued upon the ocean which 

 divides and unites all the continents, the way to 

 its own destination ; our frigate, which was a-head 

 of all the rest, advanced with incredible rapidity to- 

 wards the west. The wind still continued to blow 

 briskly from the east, and the sails and deck were 

 covered with dew ; we sailed upon an average 

 nine miles an hour. Though the first sight of the 

 boundless element, of the rising and setting sun, 

 of the moon and the starry heavens, transported 

 the imagination of the beholder, the mode of life 

 on board offered but little variety and amusement. 

 The phosphorescence was very inconsiderable in 

 this latitude, and, proceeding from only a few 



