air of which is too hot to breathe! Under such circumstances
with what eagerness does the long-enduring seaman scan the polished
surface of the sleeping ocean in search of the little smudge of faint,
evanescent blue, the cat's-paw that betrays the presence of some
wandering eddy in the stagnant air which, even though it be too feeble
and insignificant to move the ship by so much as a single inch, may at
least afford his fevered body the momentary relief of a suggestion of
comparative coolness. And how often does the panting and perspiring
officer of the deck drag his weary, enervated frame to the skylight in
the almost despairing hope that he may detect a depression of the
mercury in the barometric tube, giving the promise of a coming change,
only to turn away again with a weary, disappointed sigh.

It was under such circumstances as these that, during the forenoon of
the tenth day of the calm, Gurney, upon examining the barometer,
reported a concavity in the surface of the mercury, which, as we all
knew, was the first indication of a tendency to fall; and a falling
barometer of course meant a change of weather, which, in its turn, meant
wind, from what quarter we scarcely cared, so long as it came with
strength enough to fill our canvas and give us steerage-way. Yet the
change was long in coming, for the fall of the mercury was so slow as to
be all but undistinguishable, while up till noon the only difference
that could be detected in the aspect of the sky was a certain subtle
thickening of the atmosphere, that robbed the blue of its exquisite
clarity, and reduced the sun to a shapeless blazing; mass that could be
gazed at without bringing tears to the eyes, although there was thus far
no appreciable alleviation of the scorching heat of the rays that he
showered down upon us. But there was an added quality of closeness in
the air that caused one literally to gasp for breath occasionally, while
the slightest exertion--even that of moving from one part of the deck to
another--induced instant profuse perspiration. So hot, indeed, was it
that with one accord we decided against cooking any food that day, the
idea of hot viands of any kind being absolutely repulsive to us all, and
we accordingly dined all together upon the poop, under the shelter of
the awning, upon such cold food as the steward's pantry afforded.

It was about four bells in the afternoon watch when the upper edge of a
great bank of livid purple cloud