Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/78

20 see the different faces that were made on this occasion, some grinning and exulting in their hardiness, whilst others were almost suffocated, and came up ready enough to have compounded after the first or second duck, had such a proceeding been allowable.

Almost immediately after crossing the tropic the air had sensibly become much damper than usual, though not materially hotter: the thermometer in general stood from 80° to 82°. The nearer we approached to the calms, the damper everything grew; this was very perceptible even to the human body, but more remarkable was its effect upon all kinds of furniture. Everything made of iron rusted so fast that the knives in people's pockets became almost useless, and the razors in cases did not escape; all kinds of leather became mouldy, portfolios and trunks covered with black leather were almost white. Soon afterwards this mould adhered to almost everything; all the books in my library became mouldy, so that they had to be wiped to preserve them.

About this time we came into the calms, which we met with earlier than usual: the thermometer was then at 83°, and we suffered from the heat and damp together. Bathing, however, kept me in perfect health, although many of the ship's company were ill of bilious complaints, which, however, were but of short duration. This continued till we got the S.E. trade, when the air became cooler, but the dampness continued yet: to that I chiefly attribute the ill-success of the electrical experiments, of which I have written an account in separate papers, that the different experiments may appear at one view.

The air, during the whole time since we crossed the tropic, and indeed for some time before, has been nearly of the same temperature throughout the twenty-four hours, the thermometer seldom rising more than a degree during the time the sun is above the horizon; the cabin windows have been open without once being shut ever since we left Madeira.

29th. This evening the sea appeared uncommonly beautiful,