THE

NAUTICAL MAGAZINE

AND

Naval Chronicle.

OCTOBER, 1861.

CROSSING THE LINE.

Dear Sir,-With the object of helping to carry out the suggestion in a number of the Nautical Magazine for the summer of 1859, where you have the tracks of five ships which crossed the line about the middle of October, 1858, I send the tracks of five ships which crossed the line in August, 1860.

This neat little track chart was kindly drawn out for me by Captain George Case, who commands the Sovereign of India.

The Holmsdale, Renown, and Marlborough crossed the line in the early part of the month, the Newcastle and Surrey towards its end. In discussing them it may be well to consider the three first apart from the others. The Holmsdale and Marlborough passed the parallel of 20° N. within a day of each other; both seem to have lost the N.E. Trades in about 12° N. From this place until they got the S.E. Trades in 6° N. the variable winds they experienced differed in direction, but on the same dates coincided in strength; for instance, it will be noticed that the lengths of their runs agree between July 29th and August 2nd, although one ship was seven degrees West of the other; this fact would incline me to suppose that even the variable winds of these latitudes are connected, taking their origin from a common source. The Marlborough went from 6° 30' N. to the equator in three days, whilst the Holmsdale took six days to make the same amount of latitude; and as she was three degrees East of the Marlborough's position, the easting might have been blamed had we not the fact that from the 30th to the 2nd, whilst the Holmsdale was nearly becalmed, the Marlborough was experiencing exactly the

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same kind of weather about seven degrees to the westward of her, and both ships took the same number of days from 20° N. to the line. From 20° N. to 10° N. both the Holmsdale and Renown gained half a day on the Marlborough; from 10° N. to the line the Renown and Marlborough were nine days, the Holmsdale nine and a half, but the Holmsdale was East of the other two, and by the time she was in 12° S. she had (in latitude) gained two days on the Marlborough and one on the Renown, besides being a good day's run East of them both. From 12° to 20° S. the Holmsdale and Marlborough experienced a series of light winds at a time when the Renown was crossing the line with a fine Trade; the Renown was baffled near South America for a day, when the wind freshened with her as it did with the ships further South. Hence, circumstances of wind favoured the Renown, which, with her speed, prevented her from losing much ground. She was new and in good trim, which gave her advantages that must not be given to the westerly route; if one of these ships had passed East of the Cape Verds there would have been an interesting comparison. Between the 10th and 16th of August the Marlborough had very light winds, but the Holmsdale had much lighter though she was several degrees to the eastward of the Marlborough; in this part the Holmsdale was very much tried,-when the Renown came there she ran over the same ground in three days. The Newcastle and Surrey crossed the line a fortnight later; the one passed outside, the other inside of the Cape de Verdes, and their passages from 20° N. to 20° S. were of equal length. These facts lead me to suppose that it matters little which side of the Cape de Verdes a ship passes in the end of July and beginning of August, though, as the two ships which crossed the line furthest East made the best passages, one would be inclined to say go East of them, at any rate get well to the eastward if you pass outside. I hope to try the eastern route this year.

By referring to the Nautical Magazines for the summer of 1859, mentioned above, it will be noticed that five tracks which crossed the line the middle of October, 1858, seemed to show that the best route for that time is West of the Cape de Verdes, with a south-easterly course after passing them; but on no account should a ship pass East of them.

A continuation of these charts, containing tracks of ships with about equal sailing qualities, or with remarks on their difference, would lead to interesting results. Hoping to see a good muster of them,

I remain, &c.,

To the Editor of the Nautical Magazine.

HENRY TOYnbee.

P.S. A few similar tracks of ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope homeward-bound, especially in the winter months, when some go South and others hug the land, would give some useful information respecting that difficult piece of navigation.

CYPRUS AND THE KARAMANIA CHARTS.

Our Cruise in the Claymore is a charming little narrative, attractive and winning, as all ladies' presents should be. It bears the stamp of "a plain ungarnished tale," not intended for the public eye: but the visit to the East which it describes at the eventful period of the late atrocities of the Druses, under Turkish apathy and connivance, will invest it with an interest that will welcome it to the historian as well as the general reader. By the way we must not omit to remind the compilers of guide books to profit by the remarks of Mrs. Harvey, or their publishers will assuredly have a repetition of them not to their advantage.

In our last number we presented our readers with Mrs. Harvey's account of the cedars of Lebanon, a subject of enduring interest, and we propose enriching our own pages with some more of the treasures with which those of our fair authoress abound. For the present_we will accompany her to Cyprus, the unfavoured garden isle of the Levant, in which she alludes to Turkish misrule; which, under the new state of affairs at the Ottoman Porte, since the new Sultan looks into things for himself, there is reason to hope will be rectified. The little yacht touches at Kaiffa, on the Syrian coast, and runs over to Cyprus, where we will take up Mrs. Harvey's journal.

Saturday, June 23rd.-Light, baffling winds had kept us almost becalmed all yesterday; but to-day we are running by Cyprus, with a gentle breeze, and the sea calm and beautiful. The mountains and hills in the background are lofty and picturesque; but the plains at their feet are triste and sunburnt, and by no means as lovely as might be expected in Venus' especial isle.

We anchored off Larnica, the only town in the island that is situated on the sea shore, the others being built a few miles inland, on account of the depredations of the pirates who formerly infested these seas. Larnica consists of an upper and lower town; both are small, but look very clean in comparison with those we had lately seen. The sights of the place are few, the church of St. Lazarus being the only building of any importance. The old cloisters that surround it are picturesque, supported by very rich Byzantine columns; and a campanile, or tower, built about four years ago, is a very favourable specimen of modern Italian architecture. Within

the church there is a screen, richly ornamented in the Greek fashion with gilding and pictures, and also the tomb of St. Lazarus. The saint's body is no longer here, having been transported some years. ago to Venice. This is the same St. Lazarus whose grave we had so lately visited at Bethany.

The women of Larnica excel in making a peculiar kind of silk lace, which is much sought after by the Greek ladies; it somewhat resembles Irish crochet, and when worked in patterns of flowers and leaves the effect is very pretty. The climate of Cyprus is said to be