NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



CHAPTER, I. 



THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 



LAND-BIRDS DRIVEN TO SEA. AGILITY OF A MONKEY. COLD FELT IN LAT. 29°. 



N. FLORES. MADEIRA. TENERIFFE. THE PEAK. COAST OF AFRICA. 



WEEDY SEA. COURSE ACROSS THE LINE. TRADE WINDS. FISHES OF THE 



OCEAN. LUMINOUS AND BROWN APPEARANCE OF THE SEA. ART OF FISHING 



AND FISHERMEN. SEA-BIRDS. INSECTS. FORM OF THE SOUTHERN HEMIS- 

 PHERE. MAGELLANIC CLOUDS. DEPTH OF THE SEA AND FORM OP THE 



BOTTOM. HINT RESPECTING LOG-BOOKS. 



THE passage to South America affords to the reflecting traveller, 

 many objects of attention ; if he be a landsman, a novice at sea, and 

 possess an inquisitive turn of mind, the water, the winds, the vessel and 

 its management ; the fishes, the birds, and the plants of the ocean ; the 

 coasts along which he sails ; the islands which he approaches, or passes, 

 or leaves behind in his daily progress, will furnish subiects for constant 

 inquiry and amusement. If accustomed to such scenes, they will lead 

 him to examine his former notes, to compare them with present 

 observations, and increase his stock of knowledge. 



The Atlantic has been so thoroughly examined and so correctly 

 represented, as to leave little new for remark on this side the line. The 

 course to Madeira is almost as well known as the road from London to 

 Falmouth ; and the island as minutely described as the county of Corn- 

 wall. A few land-birds, driven off by the winds from their natural abodes, 

 attract attention and exercise our compassion. They are found far out at 

 sea " weary and way-worn." Hunger, fatigue, and anxiety, the great 

 instruments by which nature reduces the most fierce, and calms the most 

 restless and volatile, have rendered them quiet and confident. It is 

 almost impossible to imagine how forlorn these poor wanderers look, 



A 



