The crossing of the line took place without any of the Neptunian ceremonies that still linger on certain ships.

Tapage was the only one to mark the event, and he did so by pouring a pint of water down Frycollin's neck.
On the 18th of July, when beyond the tropic of Capricorn, another phenomenon was noticed, which would have been somewhat alarming to a ship on the sea.

A strange succession of luminous waves widened out over the surface of the ocean with a speed estimated at quite sixty miles an hour.

The waves ran along at about eight feet from one another, tracing two furrows of light.

As night fell a bright reflection rose even to the "Albatross," so that she might have been taken for a flaming aerolite.