Page:Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology.djvu/168

142 320. Land breeze in Brazil and Cuba.—But on the opposite side—on the coast of Brazil, as at Pernambuco, for instance—where the trade-wind comes from the sea, we should have this condition of things reversed, and the sea breeze will prevail for most of the time—then it is the land breeze which is feeble and of short duration: it is rarely felt. Again, the land and sea breezes in Cuba, and along the Gulf shores of the United States, will be more regular in their alternations than they are along the shores of Brazil or South Africa, and for the simple reason that the Gulf shores lie nearly parallel with the prevailing direction of the winds. In Rio de Janeiro, the sea breeze is the regular trade-wind made fresher by the daily action of the sun on the land. It is worthy of remark, also, that, for the reason stated by Jansen, the land and sea breezes in the winter time are almost unknown in countries of severe cold, though in the summer the alternation of wind from land to sea, and sea to land, may be well marked.

321. Night scenes when sailing with the land breeze.—"Happy he," remarks Jansen, "who, in the Java Sea at evening, seeking the land breeze off the coast, finds it there, after the salt-bearing, roaring sea wind, and can, in the magnificent nights of the tropics, breathe the refreshing land breeze, ofttimes laden with delicious odours. The veil of clouds, either after a squall, with or without rain, or after the coming of the land breeze, is speedily withdrawn, and leaves the sky clearer during the night, only now and then flecked with dark clouds floating over from the land. Without these floating clouds the land breeze is feeble. When the clouds float away from the sea, the land breeze does not go far out from the coast, or is wholly replaced by the sea breeze, or, rather, by the trade-wind. If the land breeze continues, then the stars loom forth, as if to free themselves from the dark vault of the heavens, but their light does not wholly vanquish its deep blue, which causes the Coal-sacks to come out more distinctly near the Southern Cross, as it smiles consolingly upon us, while Scorpio, the emblem of the tropical climate, stands like a warning in the heavens. The starlight, which is reflected by the mirrored waters, causes the nights to vie in clearness with the early twilight in high latitudes. "Numerous shooting stars weary the eye, although they break the monotony of the sparkling firmament. Their unceasing motion