J f | | L O R D A N S O N ’ S V O Y A G E
, rendered lefs capable-of ftfpp'oWgtte abi-mal funaions, and man»,
kind are confequeirtly •afifeaed with what they ftyte a moft rntenfe
and foiling heat: whereas in the higher latitudes thefe vapours are
, probably raifedi-n fmaller quantities, and the irregularity and violence
„ o f the winds frequently difperfethem; fothat, the air being in general
pure and lefs ftagnant, thefaipe degree o f abfo'l-ute heat is not
„attended with that uneafy and fuffocati-ng fenfation. This may fuf-
fice, in general, with refpeft to the prefent-fpeculation; but I cannot
help wiftiing, as it is a fubjeft in. which mankind, especially travellers
o f all forts, are very much interefted, that it were-more
f thoroughly and accurately examined, and that all ihips bound to the
■ warmer climates would furnlfh themfelves with thermometers o f a
- known fabric, and would obferve them daily, and regifter their observations
; for, confideringthe turn to philofophical inquiries which
has obtained in Europe for the laft fourfcore years, it -is incredible
how very rarely any thing ofthiskind hath been attended to. As Co
-my own part, I do not recolledt that I have ever feen any obferva-
tions of the heat and cold, either in the E a jlo s Wefi Indies, which
were made by mariners-or officers of veffels, except thefe made by
Mr. Anfon's order on board the Centurion, and -by Captain Legg an
board the Severn, which was another fiup o f our Iquadron.
This digreffion I have been, in fome meafure, drawn into, by the
confideration of the fine weather we met with on the coaft of Peru,
. even under the equinoctial itfelf; but the particularities of this
weather I have not yet defcribed : 1 fliall now therefore add, that
in this climate every circumftance concurred that could make the
open air and the day-light defireable ; for in other countries the
.Scorching heat-of the fun in fummer renders the greater part of the
day unapt either for labour or amufement, and the frequent rains
.are not left troublefome in the more temperate parts of the year.;
but in this happy climate the fun rarely appears: not that the
-.heavens have at any time a dark and gloomy look; for there is constantly
achearful greyfky, juft fufficient to foreen the fun, and to
.«litigate the violence of its perpendicular rajs, without.obfcuring
R O U N D T H E W O R L D . 185
the air or tinging the day-light with an unpleafant or melancholy
hue. By this means all parts, of the day are proper for labour, or
exercife abroad; nor is there wanting that refrefhmeiit and pleafing
refrigeration of the air which is fometimes produced in other climates
by rains; for here the fame effea is brought about by the
frefh breezes from the cooler régions to the fouthward. It is rea-
fonable to fuppofe, that this fortunate complexion of thefe heavens
is principally owing to the neighbourhood of thofe vaft hills, called
the Andes, which running nearly parallel to the ftiore, and at a
fmall diftance fromit, and extending themfelves immenfely higher
than any other mountains upon the globe, form upon their fides
and declivities a prqdigious track of country, where, according to
the different approaches to the fummit, all kinds of climates may,
at all feafons o f the year, be found. Thefe mountains, by intercepting
great part o f the eaftern winds, which generally blow over
the Continent of South-America, and by cooling that part of the air
which forces its way over their top, and by keeping befides a large
portion of the atmofphere perpetually cool, from its contiguity to
the fnows with which they are covered ; thefe hills, thus fpiread-
ing the influence of their frozen crefts to the neighbouring coafts
and feas of Peru, are doubtlefs the caufe of the temperature and
equability which çonftantly prevail there. For when we were
advanced beyond the equinodial, where thefe mountains left us;
had nothing to fcreen us to the eaftward but the high lands
on the Ifthmus of Panama, which are but mole-hills to the Andes, -
we then foon found, that, in a foort run, we had totally changed
our climate; palling, in two or three days, from the temperate air
of Peru, to the fultry burning atmofphere o f the Wejl Indies, But
it is time to return to our narration.
On the -i oth of November we were three leagues South of the
fouthermoft Ifland of hobos, lying in the latitudeof 6°:;27' South.
There are two Iflands of this, name : this called Lotos de la Mar-,
and another, which isfituated to the northward of it, very much
refembling it in lhape and appearance, and often miftakeu for-it,
B b called