The whole company met together once more at a convivial dinner in the hotel, where, agreeably to the custom of the country, not only the room and table, but even every single dish served up, was adorned with garlands of fragrant flowers.

PLATE II.—TRACK FROM MADEIRA TO RIO DI JANEIRO.
[Larger.]

On the 17th June we again weighed anchor. The intention had originally been to steer direct for Rio de Janeiro; but as we learned, two days before our departure, that the yellow fever, though on the decrease, had not yet entirely ceased, we were in no hurry to arrive at the capital of Brazil, and therefore determined to employ the time so gained, in investigating the nature of the winds and currents prevalent in these latitudes. For though the proper course of ships between England and North America has been admirably laid down, for nearly every month of the year, by the long-continued ingenious labours of Commander Maury, of the Washington Observatory, yet there still exists great difficulty in steering sailing vessels from Gibraltar or Madeira to South America, by the directions hitherto existing; the more so, as the seafarer in these latitudes, close to the limits of the north-east trade-wind, generally falls in with variable breezes and frequent calms, caused partly by the African coast and partly by the cluster of isles from the Azores to the Cape Verde Islands, and which are of still more frequent occurrence in the summer of the northern hemisphere.

We kept Madeira, or rather the clouds which, during the summer, gather daily round the mountains, a long time in view; and on the 19th, at a distance of 120 miles from the island, some persons on board thought they could still distinguish them.

We steered at first in a south-westerly direction, with light breezes and fine weather. Advancing, however, towards the limits of the trade-winds, showers became frequent, and the wind chopped about much oftener; a more southerly course was therefore taken, in order to come as soon as possible under the influence of the north-easterly trade-winds.

There was now an opportunity of directing attention to the formation of the clouds, which, in these latitudes, assume at times very curious appearances. The cirri disappeared by degrees, and the cumuli towered up on the horizon in colossal masses. These latter are formed under the influence of the sun, when most powerful, and are therefore seen chiefly during the afternoon. As soon as they rise they vanish by absorption, just as fast as they are formed by evaporation from the sea. Rain very rarely proceeds from them. The alternation of their shades, tints, and colours, is beautiful in the extreme, particularly at sunset, when their outlines, as they stand out in bold relief on the clear blue sky, vary in hue from the deepest grey to the most brilliant golden yellow.

The nearer the tropics are approached the more does ocean teem with animated orgasms. A net cast into it was immediately filled with an immense number of little living creatures. Pretty-looking blue cockles, sea-nettles, and various other inhabitants of the deep, all of the most minute size, lay rolled up in one lump with small sea-weeds of beautiful forms and tints, from which those tiny things endeavoured, with great exertion, to extricate themselves. The microscope discloses to the observer an entirely new world in the economy of nature, as displayed in the animal life of the surface of the sea. The entire oceanic creation, from the smallest infusoria to the huge whale, are all specially adapted to the element in which they exist, and organized to contribute to the preservation, as well as the further development, of the whole globe.

This is beautifully illustrated by the operations of the zoophytes; the water of rivers dissolves the chalky substances of the land and carries them down to the ocean,—immense numbers of these form, for themselves, habitations from this matter;—by successive accumulation, produced through the action or the dead bodies of these creatures, the ground is raised gradually into the reefs, banks, and rocks, so dangerous to navigation; or into islands inhabited by man, who, in the development of his moral and physical powers, performs his mission in his high position, just as definitely as the imperceptible animalcuæ do in their narrow sphere.