98 Baron Von Buch's Observations 



prevail for months. Rain now falls in the declivity of the moun- 

 tains, and the Peak is covered with snow. 



Have we not, then, reason to believe that the west-wind, 

 which, on the passage in summer from Teneriffe to England, is 

 sought for in'the neighbourhood or in the latitude of the Azores, 

 and is also generally found there ; have we not reason to be- 

 lieve, that the almost constantly prevailing west and south-west 

 winds, which cause the voyage from New York or Philadelphia 

 to England, to be called down (bergab), and from England 

 back, up (bergauf), as well as that which blows at the top of the 

 Peak, are the upper equatorial current, which has here descend- 

 ed to skim the surface of the ocean ? It would then follow, that 

 the equatorial air of the upper regions does not reach the pole, 

 at least along the Atlantic ocean ; and that the polar air must 

 be subject to other movements, dependent on the temperature of 

 the neighbouring countries of the temperate zone ; and thus 

 new causes would be ascertained for modifying the laws which 

 regulate the distribution of temperature. How much for the 

 clearing up of this point is not a series of meteorological obser- 

 vations from one of the Azores to be wished ! How much, also, 

 with this view, the narrative of a journey to the Peak of the 

 Azores ! 



Glass details some other phenomena, which appear to me to 

 be important, in order fully to comprehend the true course of 

 these currents, one above the other. All experienced seamen 

 hold it as a rule, that continents in the warmer climates at all 

 times attract fixed winds, probably because the air being more 

 rarified over the land, ascends, and must be replaced by the 

 trade-wind. Thus the Canary Islands feel the influence of the 

 neighbourhood of Africa. The north-east wind is always more 

 diverted towards the coast, the nearer the islands are to it. Near 

 the land the wind is almost directly north, or N. by E. ; at 

 Lancerote and Fortaventura, N. N. E. ; at Canary, N. E. ; at 

 Teneriffe, N. E. by E. ; and at Palma, a little more to the east, 

 and thus continues along the Atlantic. These winds are so 

 completely intercepted by the higher islands, Canary, Teneriffe, 

 and Palma, that, when they are blowing violently on the north- 

 east side, there is a perfect calm on the one opposite. Of this 

 appearance there is a striking account given in the manuscript 



