30 THE GULF STREAM. [183S. 



observe, all astronomical and atmospherical phenomena, and 

 every unusual appearance connected with the weather, such 

 as shooting stars, zodiacal lights, aurora borealis, rainbows, 

 halos, water-spouts, the Magellanic clouds,* lightning, and rain. 



After several days' trial, the store-ship Relief was found to 

 be so dull a sailer — the other vessels being frequently required 

 to lie to for her — that Lieutenant Wilkes determined to part 

 company. Lieutenant Long was therefore ordered to pro- 

 ceed, with all practicable dispatch, to Porto Praya, izi the 

 island of St. Jago, and thence to Rio Janeiro. In case of 

 separation, the remaining vessels of the squadron were di- 

 rected to rendezvous at Madeira. 



(4.) Immediately after leaving the Capes of Virginia, the 

 iniluence of the cold polar, or counter-current, flowing paral- 

 lel to the coast, close to the inner edge of the Gulf Stream, 

 from Davis' Straits as far south as Cape Hatteras, was sen- 

 sibly felt.t In crossing the Gulf Stream, the squadron were 

 highly favored. They had light winds, and their progress 

 was so slow, that they were forty-eight hours in passing it, 

 although they were most of the time sailing at right angles to 

 its direction. When they entered the stream, a sudden rise 

 of the temperature of the water was indicated by the ther- 

 mometer, which went up from 77° to 83° in a few hours, but 

 soon fell again to a mean temperature of about 80°, — thus 

 showing that the stream is considerably warmer towards the 

 inner edge than on the outer. Its breadth, where the 

 squadron crossed it, on the parallel of 34° 30', was ascer- 

 tained to be fifty-three miles, and its velocity two miles per 

 hour. These data are not very reliable, however, as it is now 

 well settled, that both the breadth and velocity fluctuate very 

 materially.^ 



* The Magellanic clouds are three conspicuous nebulae, bearing the appearance 

 of thin white clouds, situated near the south pole. They derive their name from 

 Magellan, the distinguished Portuguese navigator. 



f This current is sometimes called the eddy of the Gulf Stream ; but the great 

 difference in the temperature shows conclusively that the idea is erroneous. 



^ The observations of the officers of the Exploring Expedition, while in the 

 Gulf Stream, were, necessarily, very limited ; consequently, they do not appear 



