Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume III / (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the / Austrian Navy.

APPENDIX C. (p. 399.)

1^a. Quedo comprometido desde ahora á embarcarme para la Habana en la Isla de Cuba en el buque que me señale dicho Señor.

2^a. Quedo igualmente comprometido y sugeto por el termino de ocho años á trabajar en dicho pais de la Isla de Cuba á las ordenes de la Sociedad la Colonizadora ó á las de la persona á quien traspasare este Contrato para lo cual la faculto, en todas las tareas alli acostumbradas, en el campo, en las poblaciones, ó en donde quiera que me destinen, sea en casas particulares, establecimientos de cualquiera clase de industria y artes, ó bien en ingenios, vegas, cafetales, sitios, potreros, estancias y cuanto concierne á las labores urbanas y rurales sea de la especie que fueren.

3^a. Los ocho años de compromiso que dejo contraidos en los terminos espresados en la clausula anterior, principiarán á contarse desde el octavo dia siguiente al de mi llegada al puerto citado de la Habana, siempre que yo llegare en buena salud, y desde el octavo dia siguiente al de mi salida del hospital ó enfermeria, caso de llegar enfermo ó incapaz de trabajar al tiempo de mi desembarco.

4^a. Las horas en que he de trabajar dependerán de la clase de trabajo que se me dé, y segun las atencinoes que dicho trabajo requiera, lo cual queda al arbitrio del patrono á cuyas ordenes se me ponga, siempre que se me dén mis horas seguidas de descanso cada 24 horas, y el tiempo preciso a demas para la comida y almuerzo, con arreglo á lo que en estas necesidades inviertan los de mas trabajadores asalariados en aquel pais.

5^a. Ademas de las horas de descanso, en los dias de trabajo, no podrá hacerseme desempeñar en los Domingos mas lavores que las denecesidad practicadas en tales dias segun la indole de los que haceres en que me ocupen.

6^a. Me sugeto igualmente al orden y disciplina que se observe en el establecimiento, taller, finca ó casa particular adonde se me destine, y me someto al sistema de coreccion que en los mismos se impone por faltas de aplicacion y constancia en el trabajo, de obediencia á las ordenes de los patronos ó de sus representantes, y por todas aquellas, cuja gravedad no haga precisa la intervencion de las leyes.

7^a. Por ninguna razon ó por ningun pretesto podré, durante los ocho años por los cuales quedo comprometido en este Contrato, negar mis servicios al patron que me tome, ni á evadirme de su poder, ni á intentarlo siquiera por ninguna causa, ni mediante ninguna indemnizacion, y para significar mas mi voluntad de permanecer bajo su autoridad en los limites que en este Contrato le doy, renuncio desde ahora el derecho de rescision de Contrato que otorgan á los colonos los Articulos 27 y 28 de las Ordenanzas sobre colonizacion promulgadas por S. M. la Reina Da. YSABEL 2^a. en 22 de Marzo de 1854, y el que pudieran otorgarle cualquiera otra ley ó disposiciones que en lo sucesivo se publicasen.

8^a. En cuanto á casos de enfermedad convengo y estipulo, que si esta escede de una semana se me suspenda el salario, y que este no vuelva á correrme hasta mi restablecimiento ó lo que es igual, hasta que mi salud permita ocuparme en el servicio de mi patrono, no obstante el tenor de los Articulos 43, 44 y 45 del Reglamento citado, pues tambien renuncio al derecho que pudiesen otorgarme para ninguna otra ecsigencia que solo á fuerza de tramites costosos y largos pudiera llegar á justificarse ó á ser reprovada.

Dn. F. Velez se obliga poa su parte para conmigo:

1^a. Aque desde el dia en que principien á contarse los ocho años de mi compromiso, principie tambien á correrme el salario de cuatro pesos al mes.

2^a. Aque se me suministre de alimento cada dia ocho onzas de carne salada y dos y media libras de boniatas ó de otras viandas sanas y alimenticias.

3^a. Aque durante mis enfermedades se me proporcione en la enfermeria la asistencia que mis males reclamen con los ausilios, medicinas y facultativo que mis dolencias y conservacion ecsijan fuere por el tiempo que fueren.

4^a. Aque se me dén dos mudas de ropa, una camisa de lana y una frazada anuales.

5^a. Será de cuenta del mismo Señor y por la de quien corresponda mi pasage hasta la Habana y mi manutencion á bordo.

6^a. El mismo Señor me adelantará la cantidad de ocho pesos fuertes para mi abilitation al viage que voi á emprender.

7^a. Tambien me dará cuatro mudas de ropa, colcha y de mas avios necesarios, cujo importe de pesos 4 con los de la clausula anterior hacen la suma de pesos doce, la misma que satisfaré en la Habana á la orden de la Sociedad la Colonizadora con un peso al mes que se descontará de mi salario por la persona á quien fuere traspasado este Contrato, entendiéndose que por ningun otro concepto podrá hacerseme descuento alguno.

DECLARO haber recibido en efectivo y en ropa segun se espresa en la ultima clausula la suma de pesos doce mencionados que reintegraré en la HABANA en la forma establecida en dicha clausula.

DECLARO tambien que me conformo con el salario estipulado, aunque sé y me consta es mucho mayor el que ganan los jornaleros libres y los esclavos en la Isla da Cuba, porque esta diferencia la juzgo compensada con las otras ventajas que ha de proporcionarme mi patrono, y las que aparecen en este Contrato.

Y en fé de que cumpliremos mutuamente lo que queda pactado en este documento firmamos dos de un tenor y para un solo efecto ambos contratantes en ______ á _____ de 18__.

Name________________________ Province__________________

Age___ Business or occupation____________________

I, the under-signed____________ born at__________ in China ____years old, have entered into an agreement with Don F. Velez, upon the following conditions, viz.—

1. I engage from the date hereof to embark for the Havannah in the island of Cuba in whatever ship the before-mentioned gentleman may appoint.

2. I further promise and engage during the space of eight years to work in the said country of Cuba under the orders and regulations of the Colonization Society, or of the person to whom the present agreement may be assigned, and to perform all necessary agricultural labour in the settlement, or wheresoever I may be ordered so to do, whether in a private house or in any description of industrial enterprise, or in factories, in plantations, in coffee-gardens, at country-seats, or on pasturage grounds, and generally all manner of labour, whether in town or country, of what description soever it may consist.

3. The eight years during which I bind myself to labour under the conditions specified in the last preceding paragraph shall be held to commence eight days after my disembarkation in the aforesaid harbour of the Havannah, it being always understood that I have been landed in good health, or else shall commence on the eighth day after my discharge from hospital, in the event of my having landed in ill health or incapable of working.

4. The hours during which I bind myself to labour shall depend upon the nature of the work which I shall be required to perform, and the degree of special attention which such work may require, or may be determined on his own responsibility by the master under whose orders I may be placed, provided always that I am permitted to enjoy certain hours of repose during every 24 hours, and certain fixed periods for breakfast and dinner, similar to those assigned to other paid labourers in that country.

5. Besides my hours of rest and recreation during work days, I shall not be bound to do any work upon Sundays, beyond such necessary labour as may seem to be requisite in the opinion of my employer or employers.

6. I also bind myself to submit to the orders and discipline which may be in force in the house of business, farm, or private house in which I am employed, and further agree that I shall be amenable to such system of punishment as may be in force in such localities for the correction of indolence, absence from work, disobedience to the orders of any employers or their agents, as also for all such minor offences as may not call for the intervention of the law.

7. On no account whatever, and under no circumstances, shall it be lawful for me during the aforesaid period of eight years for which I hereby bind myself, to absent myself from my employer's service, or to withdraw or escape from his authority, or under any circumstance or under any provocation to complain against him, and in order to render more binding upon me this declaration of my voluntary obedience to all these provisions, I renounce from the date of the present subscription the right to rescind the provisions of this contract secured to emigrants by articles 27 and 28 of the ordinances on colonization promulgated by H. M. Queen Isabella II., 22 March, 1854, as also any similar rights that may be secured to emigrants by any laws or official documents published or to be published in reference thereto.

8. In case of sickness or infirmity I agree and declare that I fully consent that if such illness shall exceed one week in duration, my wages shall be stopped, and shall remain suspended until my recovery, or, which is the same thing, until such time as my health permits me to re-enter the service of my employer, without having recourse to the articles 43, 44, and 45 of the aforesaid regulations, my rights under which I forego by the last preceding paragraph, and do again renounce.

Don F. Velez for his part engages with me:—

1. That from the day on which my said term of eight years' service begins, my wages shall be paid at the rate of four Spanish piastres monthly.

2. That there shall be provided me daily eight ounces of salt meat and two and a half pounds Boniatas (Jatropha Manihot), or other equally good and nutritious food.

3. That in the event of illness I shall be provided in the hospital with such things as my case may require, and in particular with all medicines, &c., necessary to restore me to health, so long as my illness may last.

4. That I shall be supplied annually with two pairs of trowsers, one woollen shirt, and one woollen coat.

5. That my passage to the Havannah and maintenance while on board shall be defrayed at the expense of my employer or his agent or representative.

6. That my employer shall further pay me eight dollars in order to enable me to provide necessaries for the said voyage; and further,

7. That he shall provide me with four pairs of trowsers and a coverlet, the same not to exceed four dollars, making with the preceding the sum of 12 dollars, which 12 dollars I bind myself to repay to the order of the Colonization Society, by means of a monthly instalment of one dollar paid by the person with whom my labour shall be contracted for, but upon the further condition that no other deduction whatever shall be made from my said monthly pay.

I hereby declare that, in conformity with the preceding paragraph, I have received by way of cash advance and in clothing the equivalent of the said 12 dollars, which, as already stipulated, shall be repaid by me at the Havannah.

I also declare that I am perfectly satisfied with the aforesaid payment, although I am aware, and it is well known, that the free labourers, as also the negro slaves, in the island of Cuba, are paid a much larger wage. But I consider myself recompensed for this difference by the other advantages which my employer binds himself to secure to me, and which are set forth in the present contract. And in witness that we on either side engage that the provisions hereof shall be duly and faithfully carried out, we subscribe on that behalf two copies of similar purport this ____ day of ____ 18__.

APPENDIX D. (pp. 539-548).

The observations as to the direction of the wind at noon of the 18th August and at the ensuing midnight, give results contradictory to the theory, since the wind in both cases is almost the same as would at midnight of the 19th indicate a central point, falling actually behind that portion of the path of the line of centres already traversed on the 18th. Upon this showing the direction of the wind at 6 P.M. of the 18th may be assumed as that of the centre of the cyclone. In fact, the path of the cyclone at this point lay parallel with the course the ship was holding, whence only trifling variations would be observable in the direction of the wind at those periods. Besides, the cyclone was at that time approaching the vertex of its orbit, in doing which it encountered the large and tolerably lofty island of Okinawa-Sima of the Loo-Choo group, which must have resulted in a certain expenditure of the force causing the gyratory movement of the cyclone. In analyzing the path of the cyclone, account must also be taken of the winds that prevailed from the 17th August up to midnight, although these are to be considered, with respect to the cyclone proper, only in so far as they were winds that had been altered in direction at the origin of the typhoon in conformity with the laws of cyclones, which by no means imply in all cases a perfect gyration. However, as these winds are varied in direction by the same causes which are in full activity in the case of the cyclones, such variations must follow the same laws, and the lines of centres which present themselves with reference to these as parts of a circular orbit, naturally lie in the same direction as that of the cyclone at its origin.

As early as the 13th August a marked alteration in the temperature of the air had been perceptible at Shanghai; the thermometer fell from between 86° and 95° Fahr. to between 73°.4 and 78°.8 Fahr.: easterly breezes set in, and the barometer rose in a remarkable manner for that latitude and season. On the 17th the weather was still fine, but the sun set red and fiery behind a dense mass of clouds.

The morning of the 18th broke with continued fine weather; but cumulous clouds were massed on the sky, and looked black and threatening to the N.E. By 8 A.M. the wind and sea had both risen materially. By 3 P.M. the roll of the sea was from N. by E., the sky became still more cloudy, and the clouds began to descend; banks of clouds in the direction of the central point. At midnight between the 18th and 19th altered course to W. by S., in order to run out of the cyclone by reaching its southern edge.

On the 19th at 8 A.M. a heavy sea from the northward, the sky a dense mass of clouds with very limited horizon; the whole aspect of the heavens a grey misty wrack of clouds, gradually falling lower and lower,—only in the direction of the central point was there visible a gloomy, leaden-coloured segment of clear horizon. From 4 P.M. to 8 P.M. the clouds completely enveloped us, so that it was barely possible to descry an object a cable's length from the ship; constant gusts of wind with fine rain or sea-spray; very heavy sea from the west, but the waves fairly decapitated by the wind as fast as they rose. By 11 P.M. a few dark clouds became visible in the S.S.E., and the horizon began to widen again.

20th. The sky still covered; in the west, white parallel bands of clouds, forming segments of circles: the masts and rigging covered with a crust of evaporated salt.

The barometric readings are corrected to the freezing-point density of the atmosphere, as also to the level of the ocean, and are further reduced by comparison with the Standard Barometer at the New Observatory. They are also relieved of a source of error arising from the regular decline for each day of the barometer, as evidenced by the observations made during June and July, 1858, in mean latitude 23° 52′ N., mean longitude 119° 12′ E. This downward tendency will be apparent from the following readings for each hour:—for 1h. (A.M.) - 0.004, 2h. - 0.005, 3h. - 0.0012, 4h. - 0.015, 5h. - 0.012, 6h. - 0.006, 7h. - 0.02, 8h. - 0.012, 9h. - 0.021, 10h. - 0.02, 11h. - 0.018, noon - 0.015, 1h. - 0.008, 2h. - 0.007, 3h. - 0.021, 4h. - 0.025, 5h. - 0.023, 6h. - 0.015, 7h. - 0.008, 8h. - 0.001, 9h. - 0.008, 10h. - 0.014, 11h. - 0.015, 12h. (midnight) - 0.011. These quantities are to be read as implying that when added to or deducted from those supplied by actual observations, they result in the quantities already assigned as the corrected averages for the day. The direction as well as strength of the wind are copied from the averages as calculated by the Commodore from the ship's log, the meteorological journals and the daily postings made by the Commodore himself.

According to the delineation of the path of the cyclone, as prepared from the observations recorded, the following table, already referred to, gives the approximative distance of the ship at stated points from such central path, as compared with that deduced from barometrical observations, allowing for the differences already mentioned. In the case of the wind-pressure, the average is deduced from the mean of successive observations taken every hour, and for the most part divided into intervals of three hours each.