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page 83 ---navigation---Pillars of Hercules---
The vicinity of ancient Africa,
which has remained the same for centuries, without improvement, the recollections
of the boundaries which antiquity believed were set by these straits to
its enterprises; the tradition of the happy Atlantis, which we hoped to find again
in the luxuriant America,
so rich in the wonders of nature; the idea of bidding farewell to Europe,
the seat of civilization and intellectual superiority; everything combined
to make the passage between the Pillars
of Hercules into the ocean, a moment in our lives never to be
forgotten.
At six o'clock in the evening the last points of the European and African
coasts vanished from our eyes, and we were in the midst of the ocean;
the waves rose majestically over each other, and seemed to swallow up
the vessels as they glided down into their deep hollows; the ocean itself,
like the serene firmament above it, showed as it were, in its deep blue,
an image of its unfathomable depth. Each of the ships that had sailed
with us, henceforth guided by the compass, pursued upon the ocean which
divides and unites all the continents, the way to its own destination;
our frigate, which was ahead of all the rest, advanced with incredible
rapidity towards the west. The wind still continued to blow briskly from
the east, and the sails and deck were covered with dew; we sailed upon
an average nine miles an hour. Though the first sight of the boundless
element, of the rising and setting sun, of the moon and the starry heavens,
transported the imagination of the beholder, the mode of life on board
offered but little variety and amusement.
page 84 ---sea-sickness---
Phosphorescence was very inconsiderable in this latitude, and, proceeding
from only a few single animals, did not present the splendid sight which
had gratified us in the Mediterranean.
The greater was our pleasure that the stronger and more favourable the
wind became, and the more rapidly the ship sailed, the sea sickness, from
which so many of us had suffered during our passage through the Mediterranean,
gradually disappeared, and we were all able to remain upon deck without
any inconvenience.
The sea sickness is extremely troublesome to people at sea. All are not
attacked in the same degree; in general, persons of strong constitution,
and dwelling on the sea-coast, appear to suffer less from it than such
as are weakly, and inhabitants of inland or mountainous countries. Instances
of the contrary are, however, to be met with; nay, even sailors inured
by many voyages, are attacked by it during violent storms. It is certain
that the cause of this disorder is not so much the sight of the boundless
ocean, the fear of danger excited by it, and the disagreeable smell proceeding
from the water in the hold, which immediately corrupts, longing for home, etc.
but principally, if not entirely, the unsteady motion of the ship. The
sensation which the voyager experiences from the heaving of the immense
fluid element, is exactly similar to that which many persons feel from
the motion of a carriage by land, and many continue to feel it even after
they have been several hours on shore.
 
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