gainst the masts; the air was oppressive. There the ship lay,
her head moving now in one direction, now in another. Those who had
before been full of life and spirits began to complain of lassitude and
weariness. The seamen no longer moved actively about the decks, but
went sauntering along when called upon to perform any duty. The heat
grew greater and greater. The iron about the ship was unpleasant to
touch. The pitch bubbled in the seams of the deck and stuck to the
feet. Emily and Grace no longer wished to play at ball, or _Les
Graces_, or any other game. Even Merlin went disconsolately up and down
the decks, as if he thought something serious was going to happen. I
felt as I had seldom felt before.

"Are we going to have a storm, sir?" I asked of the captain. "I have
read that storms are apt to come on after weather such as we now have."

"I do not expect one," answered Captain Davenport, "though we may
possibly have a squall of a few hours' duration; and I should not be
sorry for it, if it would carry us out of this region. We are now in
the Doldrums."

"Not a bad name, considering the condition of all us poor mortals on
board," observed Mr Hooker.

"We are now under the cloud ring which encircles this part of the earth.
God has placed these clouds above our heads in this region for a
particular purpose. You will observe that the thermometer and barometer
stand lower under this cloud ring than they do on either side of it.
The clouds not only promote the precipitation which takes place in this
region, but they also cause the rains to fall on places where they are
most required, shading the surface from which the heating rays of the
sun are to be excluded, and thus giving tone to the atmospherical
circulation of the world and vigour to its vegetation. You have often,
when the sun is sending his rays with great heat down on the earth, seen
the atmosphere dancing, as it were, and trembling. This appearance is
caused by the ascending and descending columns of air. The cloud ring
creates on a greater scale this circulation of the atmosphere; indeed,
the more we examine the phenomena of Nature, the more we shall discover
the hand of a directing Providence, in suiting all things for the
convenience and use of the beings placed by Him on the earth."

Day after day the ship remained in this calm region with a cloudy sky.
People began to feel ill; and some fancied that as they were going
further south t