Sails up, and out we go for a long voyage. The wind was favorable and brisk, and we stood out the Channel and into the southern Atlantic at a great pace. In a little while we were in the northeast tradewind, with its agreeable temperature. Here were the flying fishes, chased by the dolphins. They often flew in on deck, and one night one of them hit the officer on watch right under the ear as he was leisurely walking the deck.
Through the tradewind belt we came into the equatorial calm. This zone, several hundred miles wide, is often quite difficult to navigate on account of unsteady and variable winds, and sometimes fierce thunderstorms of devastating violence. Here I witnessed one day the greatest rain I have seen in all my life, if indeed it could be called a rain. There was a dead calm, as my turn at the helm began. A dark cloud lay off to the southeast. When such things appeared in the sky, we usually took on oilskins, boots, and southwesters to be ready for a storm. Shortly the cloud appeared bigger and blacker, and its upper and lower limits were perfectly straight. I had good opportunity and watched its development closely. Soon there came a break in th lower line and from that point was formed directly down to the sea. This black point became bigger and sharper and hung closer to the water. Then I saw it began to form a circle of foam and spray on the water right under the point of the cloud, and soon there also appeared a black point standing up out of the ocean. These two points stretched until they met halfway between the cloud and the sea. There developed then a large black pillar, and I could see the water going in a spiral motion upward with lightning speed. It was not more than 4 or 5 miles away, and the phenomenon was exceedingly interesting to observe. The column soon extended, and the cloud became rapidly larger and more black until it extended over the whole sky. The air continued calm, and the column remained about stationary. I could hear the sinister drawing and whistling sound of the water that was drawn up and whirled into the air by this mysterious process. No rain had fallen as yet. But after about 10 or 15 minutes the column broke in the middle, one end going up and the other down. Now lightning and thunder began. And then rain fell so heavily that I felt it like a weight on my shoulders. An avalanche of water descended. From my southwester there fell a sheet of water on all sides. On deck it was ankle-deep and filled the scuppers to capacity for some time. To see a real cloudburst, one must see it in the tropics. It did not last very long, probably 15 or 20 minutes, and soon the sun was shining again. The calm continued through the whole cloudburst. I heard later that the men had filled the soft-water casks during the downpour. Such sky pumps are frequent in these waters. One day we observed seven of them, but all some distance away.
It is a puzzle I have never heard explained how this water taken up from the ocean in such great quantities can be returned in rain as fresh water in a few minutes. What became of the salt in the seawater? I would like to have that explained.
One night a brisk wind was blowing; the sky was overcast and quite dark. I saw another remarkable phenomenon. The sky appeared black, but the sea was yellow, and when the wavs formed combs and broke the breaker appeared as if it was afire. Sparks like fire were visible everywhere in the water. At night, the water usually appears dark and the sky a little lighter. Now the sky was black, and the sea was aglow as with fire, and occasionally changing into a golden green hue. This is caused by myriads of small creatures in the water which emit a phosphorescent light. it is a strange sight.