Ix ADVERTISEMENT. 



Current of the Atlantic. Thus the conrfe of the 

 Seas, from the one Pole to the other, is in a fpiral 

 line round the Globe, like the courfe of the Sun 

 from the one Tropic to the other. 



This perception adds a new degree of probabi- 

 lity to the correfpondence of the movements of the 

 Sea with thofe of the Sun. I do not mean to aflert 

 that the chain of Archipelagoes, which projeâ: in a 

 fpiral direction in the South Sea, is not interrupted 

 in fome places ; but thofe interruptions, in my ap- 

 prehenfion, proceed only from the imperfection of 

 our difcoveries. We might, if I am not miftaken, 

 extend them much farther, by guiding ourfelvesin 

 the difcovery of the unknown iilands of that Sea, 

 upon the projedion of the iflands which are already 

 known. Such voyages ought not to be made, in 

 a direct progrefs from the Line toward the Pole, 

 or by defcribingthe fame parallel round the Globe, 

 as the practice has been ; but by purfuing the fpi- 

 ral diredion, of which I have been fpeaking, and 

 which is fufficiently indicated by the general Cur- 

 rent itfelf of the Ocean. Particular care ought to 

 be taken to obferve the nautical fruits which the 

 alternate Current of the Seas never fails to waft 

 from one Ifland to another, frequently at prodi- 

 gious diitances. It was by thofe fimple and na- 

 tural means, that the ancient Nations, of the South 

 of Afia, difcovered fo many iilands in the South 



Sea, 



