158 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



may be swept back or carried forward by the current to which she is 

 exposed during that time, 240 miles ; thus making a difference of 480 

 miles in her progress during onfy ten days of her passage, according 

 as she may have the luck to strike the adverse or favorable current. 

 Would it not be a great advantage to every vessel in the European 

 trade, if she knew exactly where to find these currents, and where to 

 go to avoid the adverse one, and where to take the favorable one ] 

 To ascertain their limits is more than individual enterprise can do, 

 it would require a vessel to be sent there for the purpose, and to em- 

 ploy several months in the examination ; therefore this would seem to 

 be the business of government. 



" As for your favorite subject, the whales, I am happy to inform 

 you that Lieut. Herndon has them already in hand ; and though his 

 investigations have not yet gone far enough to authorize conclusions, 

 yet there is no doubt in my mind, that, if you will send us well-kept 

 journals, and enough of them, we shall be able to ^construct a chart 

 which will show at a glance in what part of the ocean the whales 

 have been found in quantity in the different months ; and we shall 

 show the parts that are never frequented by them. Take, as an ex- 

 ample : he has examined the logs of vessels which in the years 1833, 

 '34, '35, '39, '40, '44, '45, and '46, cruised 429 days in the square 

 from 5 N. to the equator, between the meridians of 80 and 85 W., 

 and whales were found there in quantities in every month except 

 January, February, and March. In the square from 5 N. to the 

 equator, between the meridians of 90 and 95 W., he has in like 

 manner examined the logs of vessels which cruised there in search of 

 whales 190 days in the years 1832, '33, '34, '35, '36, '39, '40, '41, 

 '43, '45, and '46. Some one of these vessels was there in every 

 month of the year, except December ; and they saw only a few strag- 

 gling whales in February and September. It remains to be seen 

 whether this animal revisits annually the same part of the ocean. So 

 far, it seems probable that he does not ; though it does not appear that 

 he remains in any one part all the year round. What then is to 

 regulate his visits from place to place ? Probably the abundance of 

 food ; therefore this is a subject to which I would invite particular 

 attention. What is the food of the whale ? What localities and what 

 temperature of the water are most favorable to its production 1 How 

 long does it take to mature ? Satisfactory replies to these interrogato- 

 ries would throw much light upon the subject. 



" The observations, in addition, required for this work are the lati- 

 tude and longitude of the ship, the temperature of the air and water, 

 and the set of the current daily ; the variation of the compass as often 

 as it is observed, and the prevailing character of the wind for every 

 eight hours of the twenty-four, stating always the point of the com- 

 pass whence it blows. Besides this, the mention of whales, large 

 quantities of sea-fowl, drift, tide-rips, discolorations of the water, 

 fogs, rain, thunder and lightning, whenever they occur or are seen, 

 with any other remarks that may be deemed of general interest, 

 should be entered in the journal kept for this office. Care must be 

 taken to note in it, also, the kind of whale, whether right or sperm." 



