So joyous a breeze has wafted us along for twenty-four hours that at noon to-day we were two hundred and two miles from where we were at the same time yesterday. We have no current now, and our run was due solely to good, honest winds from south-southeast. At about noon to-day, though, the breeze shifted to south-southwest, and now (4 +P.M.+) it is at southwest and not strong. It is probable that we have lost the Trades, after holding them for thirty-five degrees of latitude,--a remarkable piece of luck. It was grand sailing then; the very finest that we ever had. But hence to 15° north will no doubt be a trying week. It was a matter of some surprise to us when we first learned that the light southwesterly wind that blows between the Trades in the Atlantic and Pacific is called a monsoon. It is generally supposed that the term monsoon, which is from the Arabian _mawsun_, signifying season, is applied to certain winds on the southeast coast of Asia only. Gracious, how hot it is here now! What a difference in a few hours! At noon, with the sky heavily overcast and on the coolest part of the deck, the thermometer stood at 84°. In equatorial regions it is only when far removed from salt-water that the mercury rises to such altitudes as 130°; this fearful temperature is experienced in many localities, such as Northern India, Mojave Desert, in Southern California, and in parts of Australia. In such places as Para, Singapore, and Madras, though close to the equator, the temperature seldom rises more than two or three degrees above 90°. Anything higher than 80° in such places, as well as at sea, would be considered almost unbearable by most people.