TRAVELS IN BRAZIL 



119 



prospect when they ro^e or sunk into the ocean. 

 But the farther we advanced to the south, the 

 more perceptible was the difference of the ele- 

 ments. In 13° 29' soutli latitude, and 3V 37' west 

 longitude of Paris, the thermometer, at half-past 

 seven in the morning, was in the air at 19. '50° R., 

 in the water 20® ; at noon, in the air and water 

 20° ; in the evening at half-past seven, in the air 

 19.25°, in the water 19.7'5°; the hygrometer 61° 

 to 70° ; the araeometer 2.8?° to 3° ; the barome- 

 ter 28° or 27.7° to 27.9". 



In latitude 18° 4', and longitude 35° 20', the 

 warmth of the atmosphere decreased nearly one 

 degree, and the thermometer varied between 17° 

 and 18**. We were now in the latitude of the 

 Abrolhos, and the appearance of several sea-fowls 

 (the Phaeton cethereus and the Procellaria capensis) 

 indicated the vicinity of those dangerous rocks 

 which lie along the coast of Brazil between the 

 16th and 19th degrees of south latitude. The cap- 

 tain ordered soundings to be more frequently 

 taken ; and though no bottom was found at a less 

 depth than seven hundred feet, he judged it pru- 

 dent to keep farther off the coast during the night. 

 The small coasting vessels which sail backwards 

 and forwards during the whole year between 

 Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, do not always keep to 

 the east of that dangerous chain of shallows and 

 cliffs, but, when the wind is not favourable to carry 

 them out to sea, often remain very near the coast 



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