16. November 1845, Atlantik
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there, from where we could be about 2 miles distant. We had a strong sailwind all night long! which drove us onward very fast, and the clear weather allowed us to bathe tonight and to sleep on deck under the open sky, and thereby go out of the way of the unpleasantness of the middledeck due to the burdensome heat. Saturday, the 15th of November, 1845. We had an excellent. wind until sunrise, so that we advanced 21 German miles during the past. night. After sunrise, the same became weaker, so that we eventually advanced only very slowly. Around 10 o’clock somewhat better again, but around 12 o'clock an almost complete windstill began which lasted until 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the ship remained almost completely still. But after 4 o’clock, it went on again more quickly, for a strong wind had come up which blew briskly into the sails. We had the island on the right-hand side, and the farther we came along it, the larger was the mountain chain with very high mountains almost towering above the clouds that passed our view. We also came past several bays which extended several miles inland, but here, too, the entire land seemed to be enclosed with mountains. Today we were a little farther away, about 5 miles from the land, and therefore could not distinguish the many black spots which we observed in great number on the mountains, as to where they might come from, and erroneously took them to be forests, until a passenger named Karner, who had previously made detailed observances, declared them to be shadows of clouds and by observance convinced us all of the truth of his statement. Sunday, the 16th of November, 1845. All night long, alternately strong and weak wind. Not until around 4 a.m. did a strong north wind come up, which quickly drove us forward and which after sunrise degenerated into quite a storm. The sea rose, the ship laid on its side and made strange motions, so that the weak-natured again began to have attacks of seasickness and to gain air by throwing up. Although most of the sails had been pulled in, the ship still had such a swift movement |
