Through and through the Tropics. Thirty thousand miles of travel in Polynesia, Australasia and India

Front matter

THROUGH AND THROUGH THE TROPICS THIRTY THOUSAND MILES OF TRAVEL IN OCEANICA, AUSTRALASIA, AND INDIA By FRANK VINCENT, Jr. AUTHOR OF "THE LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT" NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS franklin square Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Til BARON DE HtJBNER, embassador, minister, historian, AN HONORED COMPANION IN SEVERAL ASIATIC JOURNEYS, THIS VOLUME Us Kcspcctfullg 30euTcateU. PREFACE, The great and unexpected favor with which my first work was received, both at home and abroad, has emboldened me to write a second, and to offer it in the presumption that it will not be less fortunate. I am the more hopeful that this may be the case, since all I profess to do is to narrate, in the simplest manner and without exaggeration, what I have myself seen, heard, and experienced.

A few of the follow ing chapters originally appeared in various magazines, and are here condensed and revised. In presenting them and their companions, I repeat the aspiration with which Hindoo writers some times crown their literary labors, and exclaim, " Khwaninda khoosh-bashud !" — May the reader be pleased ! F. V., Jr. New York, October, 1875. CONTENTS

Chapter I. Southerly Around The Continent

Cargo of the Golden Fleece. — Flying-fish. — Phosphoric Phenomena. — Sea-weed of the North Atlantic. — Characteristics of the " Horse Latitudes." — Crossing the Equator. — Looking North for the Sun. — Catching a Sword - fish. — Dying Dolphins. — A Tropic Storm at Sea. — Tierra del Fuego. — Amenities of Sea Life. — How the Time is Passed. — The Etiquette of Signals. — Contrast of Sunrise on Land and Ocean. — Christmas on the Briny Deep. — Omnivorous Reading. — Ship Discipline — Good-bye to the Southern Cross and Welcome Farralone Light. — San Francisco at Last Page 1 7

Chapter II In

'FRISCO. Justly praised Climate of Central California. — Influence ofthe Black Stream of Japan. — Bracing Property ofthe Air. — Vegetable Varieties in the Markets. — Where are the Public Buildings ? — San Francisco contrasted with New York. — Aspect of the Private Residences. — Public Gardens at Alameda, Oakland, and Saucelito. — Breakfasts and Suppers at the Cliff House. — The "fastness " of San Francisco Society. — Want of Sanctity on the Sabbath. — Peculiarities of the Chinese Inhabitants. — Celestial Conceit and Thrift. — A Mongolian Drama CONTENTS.

Chapter III. Honolulu

Off to the Sandwich Islands.— We Sight Molokai April 10, 1870.— First Impressions of Oahu. — Situation of Honolulu. — American Appearance of the Town. — The Poke Bonnets and Antediluvian Hats. — I ask for Breadfruit Groves and am shown a Bar. — Farewell to the Golden Fleece— -The Pali.— The Valley of Nuuanu.— Souvenirs in Bone of Kamehameha I. — A Superb Landscape. — Wonderful Agility of the Natives 51

Chapter IV. At The Hawaiian Palace

How Foreign Residents Live. — The Royal Palace. — Appointments of the Interior. — The Library and Paintings. — Scientific and Illustrated Works. — The Crown-Room. — Grand Reception-Room. — The Magnificent Mamo, or Feather Cloak. — Porcelain Likeness of the Empress Eugenie. — The Billiard-hall and the Royal Plate. — Bill of Fare at Iolani Palace. — The Kamehamehas a Short-lived Race. — Dr. Judd's Unpardonable Mistake. — " No nagurs allowed at this table." — Succession of Kalakua. — The Old Crater of Diamond Head. — Cheery Salutations of the Kanakas 57

Chapter V. Glimpses Of The Hawaiian Group

Sailing for Hilo. — Kanakas as Passengers. — Their Constitutional Shiftlessness. — Their Ideas of Conviviality. — Molokai and its Leper Hospital. — Mauna - Haleakala. — The Largest Quiescent Crater in the World. — A Hole Thirty-five Miles in Circumference and Three Thousand Feet Deep. — Fertility of the Soil of Hawaii.— Is another Island in Process of Volcanic Formation? — Native Productions. — Churches and Missionaries. — Gathering CONTENTS. IX Cocoa-nuts in Hilo. — How they are Eaten. — Bananas. — Pests of the Sandwich Islands. — Caterpillars Five Inches Long. ... 64

Chapter VI. The Great Crater Of Kilauea

In Quest of a Big Crater.— Scenery through the Woods. — Accommodations at the Half-way House. — Delights of the Lomi-lomi. — A Pleasant Way of Getting Fat. — A Sulphur Steam-bath in the Lap of Nature. — The Three Lofty Mountains of Hawaii. — Mauna-Loa. — Kilauea, the Largest Active Volcano in the World. — The Inside of a Crater. — How it Feels to be on the Under-side of the Earth's Pie-crust. — We Impinge on a Small Crater. — Description of a Lava Stream. — Overflow of Kilauea. — Terrific Appearance of a River of Burning Lava. — Natives Propitiate the Kilauean Deity. — Visit to an Extincf Crater 71

Chapter VII. At Home With The Kanakas

Native Canoes. — Artistic Swimming. — The Ocean a Natatorium for Kanakas. — Captain Spencer's Sugar-cane Plantation. — A Labor-saving " Flume." — Mode of Planting Sugar-cane. — How the Sugar is Made. — Setting out for Mauna-Kea. — Eleven People in One Room. — Kapa Cloth. — Pleasures of Poi-eating. — The Lively Manner in which it is done. — Rum among the Sandwich Islanders. — Decimation since the Time of Cook 80

Chapter VIII. Mauna-kea, Waipio, And Waimea

Inducements to Ascend Mauna-Kea. — Hard Work for a Sublime View. — What Geologists Say about the Mountain. — Source of the Crateriform Lake. — Waipio Valley. — An Eden bounded by Mountain, Sea, and Waterfall. — Fair Possessions of Kameha- A X CONTENTS. meha V. — His Numerous Pursuits. — He Runs a Cattle Ranch and Rules a Throne. — Waimea, the Sanitarium of Hawaii. — The Spot where Captain Cook Fell. —A Solitary Palm-tree Stump Consecrates it. — Inscriptions of a Grateful but Impecunious Pos terity. — Vain Efforts ofthe British Consul. — Hawaiian Cata combs. — Decrease of Population since the Time of Cook. — Na tive Temple of Kawaihae. — Unique Method of Shipping Bullocks. — Miscellaneous Islands 86

Chapter IX. From Honolulu To Sydney

Facts from the Honolulu Directory. — Rapid Civilization of the Hawaiians. — Sail for Auckland, New Zealand. — Steamship Company Complications. — Ineffectual Efforts to Reach Tahiti. — Micronesia an Incorrect Name for the Polynesian Archipelagoes. — Climate, Vegetation, and Scenery of these Groups. — Method of Structure in Coral Reefs. — Wide Dispersion of the Islands. — The Irrevocable Manner in which we Lost a Day. — Where Cannibalism still Flourishes. — Magnificent Harbor of Sydney. — Burlesque Fortifications. — Spacious Hotel Hospitality 97

Chapter X. Wonders Of Kangaroo Land

Popular Impression concerning Australia. — Something more than an Infinite Island with a Desert at Heart. — Character ofthe Aborigines. — Their Burial Superstitions. — Animal Life. — The Kangaroo, Ornithorhynchus, and other Quidnuncs. — Vegetable Phenomena. — Aspect of Sydney. — Public Buildings. — Origin of Botany Bay. — Australian Railways. — A Grade that Cost Five Hundred Thousand Dollars per Mile. — Newcastle Mines. — Features of an Australian Landscape. — Melbourne and Sydney Contrasted. — Sudden Rise of Melbourne. — Imperial Presents to the Public Library. — Exquisite Models in the Mining Museum. CONTENTS. XI — The Observatory. — The Second Botanical Gardens of the World. — Ballarat Gold Nuggets. — An Old-fashioned Coach drive in Tasmania. — Coup d'œil of Hobart-town. — Bound for Cal cutta. — We Escape the Cyclone. — Specimen of Caste. — Anchoring at Calcutta 104

Chapter XI. Calcutta

First Impressions of Calcutta. — Small Ponies. — Furniture in Indian Houses. — Population, Imports, and Exports. — An Inexpensive Eurasian. — The Pleasures of a Palankeen. — The Government House. — Asiatic Society's Museum. — Chantrey's Statue of Heber. — The Banyan - tree at the Botanical Gardens. — The Dying Houses. — "Morgues for the Moribund." — Idiosyncrasies of Hindoo Mourning. — The Goddess Kali at Home. — The Esplanade, Calcutta's " Rotten Row." — An Attenuated Operatic Chorus. — The Voices are Thin to Suit the Climate. — Menagerie and Garden of the ex-King of Oudh. — Interview with Moonshee Ameer Allie, Khan Bahadoor. — Aviary of the King of Oudh. — His Personal Appearance. — Debauchery and Extravagance. — Burra Bazar. — Cheating Propensities of Native Traders. — Departure for the Himalayas and Thibet 126

Chapter XII. Northward To High Asia

First Sight ofthe Ganges. — Experiences in a Shigram. — Hindoo Rareyism. — A Unique Specimen of Midnight Coachmanship. — Dak-bungalows. — At the Foot ofthe Himalayas. — Nepaulese Coolies. — Their Wonderful Strength and Endurance.— Precipitous Roads and Exquisite Valleys. — European Residents at Darjeeling. — European Vegetables for Sale. — Find it Impossible to Proceed to Thibet. — Contumacy ofthe Pugla Diwan. — A Horseback Excursion into Sikkim. — Abysmal Bridle-paths at an An- CONTENTS. gle of Forty-five Degrees. — A Bamboo Suspension-bridge. — Un expected View of the Sublime Kanchinginga.— A Mountain Five Miles in Perpendicular Height.— The Alps, the Andes, and the Himalayas Compared. —Tea -plantations. — Land -owners and Peasants. — Native Productions. — Poppy Plants. — Patna. — Shops and Dwellings. — A Famous Old Granary. — The Government Opium Manufactory and Warehouse 138

Chapter XIII. The Sacred City Of The Hindoos

The Soane Bridge. — The Victoria Hotel. — General Characteristics of Benares. — Situation. — Hindooism at Home. — A Short Cut to Paradise and a Royal Road to Bliss. — Sacred Simians. — Bull Deities. — The Monkey-gods Scramble for Rice and Corn. — Jai Singh's Observatory. — The Vivishas Temple. — Shopping en prince. — Kinkob Manufacture. — The Fascinations of Fakirism. — Amenities to the Sick and Aged. — Oriental coup d'ceil. — Mosque of Aurungzebe. — Experience in Betel-chewing. — Ruins of Sarnath. — Snake-charming. — Received by the Maharajah of Benares. — Ramnaghur Citadel. — The Heir-Apparent. — Royal Gardens. — Audience with the Rajah. — Invited to a Private Entertainment at Karnatcha Palace. — The Rajah's Nautch Girls. — Their Style of Dancing. — Their Style of Singing. — The Accompanying Musicians. — The Rajah's Hookah. — Description ofthe "Been." — His Highness's Distinguished Courtesy. — Attar -of- Roses and Silver-silk Neck - ribbons. — " Palagan Maharaj !" — Something more about Hookahs. — The Trick-elephant. — Claims of Benares upon the Traveler. — Reluctant Departure for Allahabad 155

Chapter XIV. Mosques, Palaces, And Tomes

The City of Allah. — Memorial Gardens. — Nana Sahib's Victims. Lucknow. — The Alumbagh. — La Martiniere. — Its somewhat Ro- CONTENTS. XIII mantic History. — The Tomb of Ghazee-ooder Hyder. — A Court and a Cock-fight. — Royalty and Roosters. — Ghazee-ooder's Rapacity. — Badshahd Munzil. — Costly Palaces and Pleasure houses. — The Great Emambarra. — Hoseinabad Emambarra. — A Prismatic Apartment. — The Tombs of Mohammed Allie Shah and his Mother. — From Cawnpore to Agra. — The Fort of Agra. — Sandal - wood Gates of Somnauth. — The Motee Mus jid, or Pearl Mosque. — A Persian Panegyric. — The Emperor's Palace. — The Shish Mahal, or Palace of Glass. — Black-marble Baths. — Tomb of King Akbar. — A Cenotaph Open to the Sky 181

Chapter XV

A GLANCE AT HINDOO LIFE AND LETTERS. The Confluence of the Ganges and Jumna. — A Tonsorial Pass to Paradise. — Losing Hair and Gaining Heaven. — Nefarious Practices of the Brahmins. — The Melas, or Religious Fairs. — How Sun-worship is Conducted. — Cave-temples of Elephanta. — The Trimurti, or Triad. — Hindoo Superstitions and Proverbs. — Various Dialects. — Ancient Writings. — The Vedas. — The Rig-Veda. — The Puranas. — The Ramayana and Mahabharata. — An Epic of Two Hundred Thousand Verses. — The Manuvadharmasastra. — The Rajneet Proverbial Philosophy of the Hindoos. — Specimens of their Poetry and Letter-writing. — General State of Education. — Sanskrit School at Benares 195

Chapter XVI. The Palace-tomb Taj Mahal

Supremacy of the Taj. — Meaning of the Term. — Locality of the Tomb. — A Magnificent Gateway. — Dimensions. — Various other Architectural Details. — Who Mumtaz Mahal was. — Wealth of Marble Fioriture. — Gems as Thick as Pebbles in a Brook. — The Echo in the Dome. — Tributes of Various Writers. — Depre- CONTENTS. XIV dations of English Troops and the Jauts. — M. Austin de Bor deaux the Architect.— Details respecting Cost and Laborers. — Localities where Gems were Obtained. — Fabulous Wealth of Ancient Mogul Sovereigns. — A Throne worth Thirty Million Dollars, and a Crown worth Twelve Millions. — Chameleon-like Characteristic ofthe Taj. — Probable Order of Architecture.— Shah Jehan's Poem. — Taj -haunted.— "Kings for such a Tomb might wish to Die." 204

Chapter XVII. Futtehpore-sikri

The Favorite Residence of the Emperor Akbar. — The Emperor Subservient to the Saint. — Futtehpore-Sikri. — Gateway Inscriptions. — Horseshoes as an Expression of Gratitude. — Hindoo Epitaphs. — Beer-Bui's Palace. — A Parable of the Olden Time. — The Good Plowman and the Wicked Kotwal. — The Elephant Tower. — The Antelope Tower. — Palace of the Sultana of Constantinople 223

Chapter XVIII. An Oriental Picture

A Day in Futtehpore-Sikri Three Hundred Years ago. — Emperor Akbar an Early Riser. — Abdul Kadir and Abul Fazl. — Morning Prayers. — The Tomb of the Sheik. — Shooting Antelopes. — Cavalry Review. — Prince Selim and Prince Khusru. — The Two Ecclesiastics. — Rajah Beer-Bui. — Noontide. — A Harem Interior. — " Oh ! Istamboul !" — An Oriental Afternoon. — Prince Danial. — A Prodigal Son of the Olden Time.— A Talk with the Two Ecclesiastics. — The Emperor in the Dewan-i-aum. — Prince Danial at Home. — " Jenazeh ! O Jenazeh !" — Premonitions. — A Breath from the Inevitable CONTENTS. XV

Chapter XIX. The Home Of The Great Moguls

Off for Delhi. — Devotion under Difficulties. — The Chandni Chowk. — Cheap Fruit. — The Circular Road. — General Nicholson's Monument. — English and Native Residences. — A Persian Hummaum. — Contrast with Turkish and Russian Baths, and Hawaiian Lomi-lomi. — Shah Jehan's Palace. — Great Crystal. — Peacock Throne. —The Emerald Parrot. — Costly Umbrellas. — The Jumma Musjid. — Venerable Relics. — The Print of Mohammed's Foot. — Purana Killa. — A Village in a Fort. — Emperor Humayon's Tomb. — The Princess Jehanara. — Contrast between her Obituary and that of Mumtaz Mahal. — The Junter Munter. — The Kutub Minar, the Loftiest Single Pillar Extant. — An Unfinished Minar. — The Oldest Authentic Mohammedan Tomb in Hindostan 244

Chapter XX. Among The Sikhs

From Delhi to Umritsur. — Letter of Introduction to Bey Purdamon Singh. — Brief Account of Umritsur. — The Sikhs. — Sacred Reservoir. — The Golden Temple. — Religious Order Established by Goroo Govind. — Narnak Shah. — Resemblance of his Career to Gautama Buddha's. — Narnak's Writings. — Uniform Dress of the Sikhs. — Principles and Practice. — Rules. — Attentions from Bey Purdamon. — Appearance of the Bazar and Shops. — A Cosmopolitan Throng. — Manufacture of the Famous Attar-of-Roses. — Reception by Bey Purdamon. — Hindustani Ideas respecting America. — Golden Temple by Moonlight. — Bridal Procession. — Ruinous Nuptials. — Golden Temple and Sacred Tank. — A Moment of Romance and Ecstasy. — Proceed to Lahore.— Mausoleums of "Selim" and "Nour Mahal."— Her Desecrated Grave. — Duty ofthe Anglo-Indian Government CONTENTS.

Chapter XXI. Down The Indus

Mooltan City. — A Moslem Mausoleum. — Genuflexions of Mussulmans. — Camel-riding. — Beauty of Navigation on the Chenab. — Sticking on a Sand-bar. — Appearance of the Indus. — Pentapotamia. — Brilliant Blundering of Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke. — Scenery of the Indus. — The Province of Sindh. — The Unhappy Valley. — Bholan Pass. — Khelat. — Husbandry of the Sindhees. — Roree. — Sukkur. — Ruins of Alore. — Kotree. — Hydrabad. — Kurrachee. — Muggur Peer, the Alligator Tank. — The Holi Festival. — Reach Bombay 276

Chapter XXII. Last Days In India

Population of Bombay. — The Parsees. — Their Disposal of the Dead. — The " Towers of Silence " and the Vultures. — The Parsee Theatre. — " No Gentleman Admitted unless Accompanied by a Lady."— A Comedy in the Gujeratti Tongue.— The Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy Hospital.— The Western Ghauts.— Poona.— Koolburga. — The Cerulean Throne ofthe House of Bhamenee. — Dominions of the Nizam.— Golconda. — Situation of Madras. — The Masullah. — The Catamarans. —Summing Up. — Four Thousand Miles of Hindostan. — India in the Past. — India in the Future. — Oriental Civilization to Come 288 Index

Chapter I. Southerly Around The Continent

On the 24th of October, 1869, the stanch old clipper ship Golden Fleece, of fifteen hundred tons' burden, left the port of New York on a trading voyage around the world, her more immediate destination being San Fran cisco via Cape Horn. Her cargo was extremely mis cellaneous, embracing marble and machinery, coals and coffins, liquors and lumber, paint and pianos, hats and hardware. The passengers were four in number — the Reverend Dr. Nehemiah Adams, his two accomplished daughters, and myself. The Doctor was taking this long voyage for his health, which forty years' work had impaired, and the young ladies in order to unite filial duty with the desire to see that world whose principal resemblance to heaven is that "it lies about us in our infancy." The fourth passenger had in view three ob jects, to be sought in the following ratio of importance : health, instruction, and amusement.

The chief officer was Captain Robert C. Adams, son of the reverend doc tor, and one of the best navigators that ever sailed from New York. Seven miles beyond Sandy Hook the pilot left us with a cool "good-morning," as though he were merely going down town for a little business, and might certainly be expected back to dinner. He was the last link which bound us to shore, and we felt his profes sional indifference the more when we remembered the stern rhetoric of the shipping articles. These set forth that our expedition was " from New York to San Fran cisco, at and from thence to such other ports or places in the Pacific Ocean, East Indies, China, the China Seas, or Europe, in a general trading or freighting voyage, for a term not to exceed twenty-four (24) calendar months, and back to a final port of discharge on the Atlantic coast in the United States, either -via Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope, or, should the master so elect, direct back to New York or some other At lantic port in the United States from the said port of San Francisco."

Our favoring breeze continued for three days, and finally increased to a gale in the Gulf Stream, the char acteristics of which Professor Maury has so well de scribed. When one week out we had made a thousand miles, and were heading directly for the Strait of Gib raltar. This we did in order to make sufficient " east ing " to obtain a slant which would enable the ship to weather Cape St. Roque, the most easterly point of the South American continent. One day, while we were still several hundred miles from the Tropic of Cancer, a fine specimen of flying-fish — seldom met with outside of the tropics — fell on deck and was captured. It was one foot long, and resembled a pickerel. Its fins or " wings " were of beautiful con struction, the ribs being like delicate strips of whale bone, and the membraneous covering like gold-beater's skin.

Of course we sacrificed it to our appetites, but found the flesh dry and tasteless, and the bones super fluous enough to please a North River shad. Fish of this species, as the name implies, have the remarkable power, by means of their pectoral fins, of sustaining themselves in the air several seconds at a time. Their nature is gregarious, and their locomotion extremely swift. Whole shoals of them often combine to lead the dolphin a vexatious and futile chase ; Avhile it is not alone in the water that pursuit exists for them, for the air swarms with predatory birds. At night, if a stiff breeze is blowing and the waves are high, these strange fish may be caught in large quantities by simply hanging a lantern near the rail ; attracted by the light, they fly on board, and are stunned or killed by striking the deck.

While yet within one thousand miles of New York we entered the tropics. The water, bright indigo in color and warmer than the air, was streaked with great patches of Gulf weed. At night the sea seemed on fire, especially where it dashed against the ship, which left a luminous wake like a comet's fan -shaped tail. Physicists say that this is produced chiefly by the phos phorus, but that the sea-feather and animalculæ are likewise concerned in it. To compare great things with small, the phosphorus patches and stripes resembled the streaks which enterprising youth is fain to produce in dark corners from the ends of lucifer-matches. The sea-feather is a vegetable growth, by day vermilion, but at night possessed of a greenish glow which makes the sea lustrous. The animalculae are millions of sparks microscopic fnedusæ and Crustacea — which dance like glow-worms through the sea-feather, and shine like in finitesimal stars in a miniature Milky Way.

About this time we experienced much light wind and some head -wind, and were obliged to lay our course more to the east than we wished, ultimately approach ing within three hundred miles of the Cape Verde Isl ands. Here were found large areas of the sea-weed of the North Atlantic (sargasso baccifera, sea-weed bearing berries), and some allied species. Our specimens were similar to the common sea-weed found on the Atlantic coast of the United States, with the addition of hollow brown berries resembling currants in size and form. On the stems and main branches were hundreds of shells no larger than the heads of ordinary pins. These, un der a powerful microscope, grew to the size of a cent, and assumed the outline and characteristics of a perfect bubble-shaped testacea. They belong to the order tecti branchiata — marine animals, which live also upon the shore.

By the aid of the magnifying-glass we likewise discovered what seemed to be young jelly-fish. They were oval and gelatinous, contained a stomach, and own ed a pair of claws, which doubtless procured their food. Since most vessels that cross the Equator do so within half-a-dozen degrees of longitude, we presently reached the grand thoroughfare of nations, the cross roads of the Atlantic. Every day could be seen three or four, and sometimes twice as many vessels of all sizes and nationalities, bound to all parts of the world. A fairer wind enabling the captain to lay his course more to the south, the region of doldrums, or "horse latitudes," was next attained. These are belts of calm intervening between the northwest and southeast trade winds, visited by gentle breezes, but also subject to sud den squalls.

They are styled "horse latitudes" because many a vessel, formerly bound from New England to the West Indies with a deck-load of horses, was delayed in the calm -belt until her supply of water grew so small that it became necessary to sacrifice a portion of the ani mals. Here the weather was very disagreeable. The wind blew from all points of the compass in as many hours; then succeeded squalls and rain-storms; then scarcely a ripple disturbed the ocean, and we returned to our normal state of calm. The atmosphere was murky and heavy, the thermometer in the cabin regis tered ninety-six degrees, while the sun stood still to watch us, "stern as the unlashed eye of God." Ships are always delayed by these doldrums, some passing through them in two or three days, others taking as many weeks. On the 20th of November, twenty-seven days out, we crossed the "line" in longitude 320 25' W., the average passage from New York to the Equator being four days longer.

After this event we felt at liberty to call our selves true subjects of Neptune, though we were fortu nate in escaping the tribute and abasement which he usually exacts at such a time. Among mariners the "line" has always been a favorite place for testing the credulity of the boys and novices. It is quite possible that a sailor may have roved the sea for more than twenty years without once crossing the Equator. Among the crew of the Golden Fleece there were three or four who had never rounded the Horn, and about as many who had never crossed the line; but the conventional ceremonies have been so often described that I will do no more than refer to them. On the twenty -eighth day out we saw land for the first time since leaving New York. It was the Roccas, a very dangerous low reef just above water level, one hundred and twenty miles from Cape St. Roque, off the coast of Brazil.

We were now gaining latitude rapidly, and could almost perceive a difference in the tempera ture from day to day. The sun being in latitude 200 S., of course when the ship was directly beneath it our bodies cast no shadows — at least none beyond the feet. To the untraveled it may seem strange to look northward for the sun ; yet we subsequently attained a latitude about nineteen degrees farther south of the sun than New-Yorkers are ever to the north of it. Fishing was one of our favorite diversions. For about a week we had kept a strong line and a large hook baited with a tempting piece of pork-rind trolling astern; when one breezy afternoon, after Cape St. Roque had been weathered, the man at the wheel suddenly cried out, " A fish on the line, sir !" The captain and myself rushed to the taffrail and began to haul in vigorously.

To avoid breakage of cord or hook, however, we sent for the " grains," which one of the boatswains expertly fixed in the monster's body. By the help of two stout ropes our prize was landed, and proved to be a sword-fish, six feet four inches in length, including the upper jaw or snout (the "sword"), which was probably two feet long. We found the flesh dry and coarse, though, being fresh, it furnished a pleasant change from our customary diet. A few days after three dolphins were caught, the average length of which was four feet. We watched them dying, and discovered that while doing so they really do change the colors of their beautifully mottled sides, as long ago affirmed by poets and navigators. These variations, like those of the chameleon, however, are somewhat due to the diverse effects of light and shadow.

The flesh of the dolphin is as finely flavored as that of the blue-fish of our seaboard waters. These were the only species we took from the Atlantic, but we afterward caught another variety — the bonito — in the Pacific, and found it to compare favorably with the dolphin in size and flavor. Off the mouth of the Rio de la Plata — River of Silver — which is one hundred and fifty miles wide, we expe rienced the heavy winds styled Pamperos. They come from the Andes across those vast plains of Patagonia and the Plata known as the Pampas. These violent gales prove destructive not only to shipping in the river, but even to vessels far out at sea. They were usually preceded by lightning. The wind, which for a long time had been southeast, would suddenly cease, and a tedious dead calm follow. Presently the horizon to the southwest would grow ominously dark; huge black clouds and mist would come driving toward us, obscuring the stars and producing darkness that might be felt.

An order would be given to furl the light sails, but ere this could be done the storm would burst upon us with relent less fury, and showers of rain and hail that none could face. The lightning would seem to open in the sky deep rifts of fire, and the voice of the thunder was ter rific. Peal after peal resounded with appalling violence, until it seemed as though the very universe were dis membered, and the elements being crushed and scattered. The rain-drops were the size of walnuts, and huge balls of fire settled on the mast-heads and yard arms. The sailors call this appearance, supposed to be electrical, a "corposant" (corpus sancti), and believe that if it rises in the rigging fair weather may be expected, but that, should it come lower, there will be a fearful storm. From this time until we reached the same latitude in the Pacific we were continually surrounded by great flocks of sea-birds.

There were cape hens, petrels, or Mother Cary's chickens, boobies, penguins, geese, wild ducks, and albatrosses. The albatross is an immense creature, measuring ten or twelve feet from tip to tip of wing. None of these sea-birds, excepting perhaps the ducks, are very palatable. They all have an oily taste and a rank odor. Many of them may be captured by means of a line and hook, baited with pork -rind and floated upon the surface astern on a piece of shingle. In the North Pacific we met with another species of marine bird, styled "boatswains," from the fact of their continually circling around and above the masts, utter ing a peculiar cry as though inspecting the ship and passing judgment. Those who imagine that all sea -water is green or blue are greatly mistaken. The Plata is reddish, and tinctures the ocean for a distance of two hundred miles from its mouth.

The eastern part ofthe Mediterranean Sea has a purple tint; the water in the Gulf of Guinea is white, west of the Azores and Canaries green, off the coast of California yellow, around the Maldive Islands black, and between Arabia and Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia red. The hue of the Red Sea is supposed to be owing to the presence of a species of oscillaria, a plant intermediate between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. To minute particles of matter, to marine vegetation at or near the surface, and to animalculæ of the infusorial kind (those possessing no organs of motion excepting very small hairs), must be ascribed the cause of the variations in seacolor above men tioned. We passed near the east entrance of the Strait of Magellan, which is three hundred and fifty miles long, and in many places but four wide.