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But it had to be done, for we were on the border-line between the prevailing westerly winds of the Southern Ocean and the south-east Trades, and to get into the latter the ship had to be jockeyed across the intervening belt of calms.
"Why just here?" "Why, we're opposite the Straits of Sunda, the worst place about these parts." "What for?" "Pirates. The Malays, you know. We're not over well prepared to meet them, I'm afraid. If they come we'll have to fight them the best way we can; and these calms are the worst thing for us, because the Malay proas can get along in the lightest wind, or with oars, when we can't move at all."
Write on the centre belt, `Equatorial Calms; on the upper, `Calms of Cancer; on the lower, `Calms of Capricorn. The circle represents the globe; the ends of a line drawn at right angles to the belts where it reaches the circle, mark the poles. The globe moves from west to east.
He invented the anemoscope and the air-balance, and being thus enabled to weight the air and note the changes that preceded storms and calms, he was able still further to dumfound his wondering fellow-Magde-burgers by more or less accurate predictions about the weather.
It must have looked fine, however, to Mrs. Stevenson, after the Equator, for she writes: "Think of two bathrooms and only one other passenger besides ourselves, a nice long wide deck to walk on, steam to run away from squalls with, and no flopping about in calms." It was pandemonium, but very exciting, and in the midst of it Mrs.
On the evening of the 2nd of the following month we sailed again, but having been baffled by calms and light winds, it was the 4th before we anchored off the St Domingo gate at Carthagena, and next morning we dropped down to Boca Chica, and saw our charge, a fine dashing schooner of 150 tons, safe into the harbour.
Weeks rolled on; gales succeeded calms, and calms succeeded gales. The "line" was passed; southern seas were reached; new constellations glittered overhead; strange fish and luminous creatures gambolled in the sea, and the whalers' fishing-ground was entered.
We retired into a wood to proceed to draw lots and embellish the elect Fate did not favour me. I did not go to the ball, but my boots did, and our comrades came back full of admiration of all they had seen. From Teneriffe our passage was a slow one. We had calms, storms, even gales, and then a fresh delay in port at Bahia in Brazil.
"You mean," she suggested, with apparent carelessness, "that you will give up your forty thousand a year?" He made a disdainful gesture. "I can make more than that," said he. "It's a second rate lawyer who can't in this day." "Of course you can," replied she tactfully. "But why not take a rest first? Then there's old Burroughs on the war path. Wouldn't it be wise to wait till he calms down?"
If you could do this, let me know, for I should like to see him get a larger ship, for he is a most excellent man. '17th. Here we are still in the same place off Celebrina detained by calms and light breezes, just now a breeze has sprung up which is likely to last. Last night we all went overboard and had a delightful bath. '29th.
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