294 
THERMOMETERS. 
floes. I have described the phenomena at eight. At 
nine the deck-lantern was doused. By llh. 14m. or 
15m. those on hoard had the flrst glimpses of the sun. 
At 5 P.M. we had the dim twilight of evening. 
“ Our thermometric records on hoard ship can not 
be relied on. I mention the fact for the benefit of 
those who may hereafter consult them. My wooden- 
cased Pike thermometer, hung to a stanchion on the 
northern beam of the brig, gave at noonday -19° ; ex- 
posed to the sun’s rays on the southern, -14°. The 
observation repeated at 12h. 30m., gave -20° for the 
northern, and —15° for the southern side; the differ- 
ence in each case being five degrees. The same ther- 
mometer, carefully exposed about a hundred yards 
from the ship, gave at noon, on the north and wind- 
ward side, -21°; on the south, exposed to the sun, 
- 18° ; and at thirty minutes afterward (nearly), on the 
north, - 20° 5'' ; toward the sun, - 1 6°. The difterence 
in these last observations of 3° in the first and 4° 5' in 
the second was owing unmistakably to the effect of the 
solar rays. The ship’s record for the same hours was 
simply -19° and -18°. The fact is, that there is al- 
ways a varying difference of two to five degrees of tem- 
perature between the lee and weather sides of the brig ; 
the quarter of the wind and its intensity, the state of 
our fires, the open or shut hatches, and other minor 
circumstances, determining what the difference shall 
be at a particular time. 
^‘■January 30. The crew determined to celebrate ‘El 
regresado del sol,’ which, according to old Costa, our 
Mahonese seaman, was a more holy day than Christ- 
mas or All-Saints. Mr. Bruce, the diversely talented, 
favored us with a new line of theatrical exhibition, a 
divertissement of domestic composition, ‘ The Country- 
