Page:Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology.djvu/159

Rh spreading circle of phenomena connected with the winds of heaven and the waves of the sea are second to none for the good which they do and for the lessons which they teach. The astronomer is said to see the hand of God in the sky; but does not the right-minded mariner, who looks aloft as he ponders over these things, hear his voice in every wave of the sea that "claps its hands," and feel his presence in every breeze that blows?



311. The alternations of land and sea breezes.—The inhabitants of the sea-shore in tropical countries wait every morning with impatience the coming of the sea breeze. It usually sets in about ten o'clock. Then the sultry heat of the oppressive morning is dissipated, and there is a delightful freshness in the air which seems to give new life to all for their daily labours. About sunset there is again another calm. The sea breeze is now done, and in a short time the land breeze sets in. This alternation of the land and sea breeze—a wind from the sea by day and from the land by night—is so regular in intertropical countries, that they are looked for by the people with as much confidence as the rising and setting of the sun.

312. The sea breeze at Valparaiso.—In extra- tropical countries, especially those on the polar side of the trade-winds, this phenomenon is presented only in summer and fall, when the heat of the sun is sufficiently intense to produce the requisite degree of atmospherical rarefaction over the land. This depends in a measure, also, upon the character of the land upon which the sea breeze blows; for when the surface is arid and the soil barren, the heating power of the sun is exerted with most effect. In such cases the sea breeze amounts to a gale of wind. In the summer of the southern hemisphere the Seabreeze is more powerfully developed at Valparaiso than at any other place to which my services afloat have led me. Here regularly in the afternoon, at this season, the sea breeze blows furiously; pebbles are torn up from the walks and whirled about the streets; people seek shelter; the Almendral is deserted, business interrupted, and all communication from the shipping to the shore is