While We Remained Off The Mouth Of This River, We Only Once Saw The North Star In Clear Weather, And It Was Then So Low As Hardly To Appear Above The Height Of A Lance Above The Sea[11].

We likewise observed, in about the same elevation, due south by the compass, a constellation of six large bright stars, in the figure of a cross, in this form:

* * * * * *

We conjectured this to be the _southern chariot_, but could not expect to observe the principal star, as we had not yet lost sight of the north pole. In this place, on the _first_ of July, we found the night to be eleven hours and a half long, and the day twelve hours and a half. The climate is always hot, and I was told, that even the rain in the inland parts falls warm, in consequence of the great heat of the air. It is true, that there is some difference of the heat at different seasons, and when the heat is a little diminished, the natives call it winter. The rains begin in July, and continue till the end of October, and fall every day about noon; at which time certain clouds arise in the N.E. by E. or E.N.E. which are accompanied by prodigious thunder and lightning, and vast torrents of rain. In this season, which is in the beginning of July, the Negroes sow their grain, in the same manner with the people in Senegal. Their provisions consist of millet, pulse, flesh and milk.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 370 of 812
Words from 102064 to 102322 of 224388