Xlviii EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



** that, it changes no more till the monfoon is fixed in the 

 " oppofite dire6lion. For example, the weftern monfoon 

 *' commences about the middle of April, but the Current 

 ** does not change till the beginning of May ; and the eaf-* 

 <* tern monfoon commences about the middle of Seplember,! 

 ** but the Current changes not till October has begun." 



Dampler feems to afcribe the caufe of thcfe Currents to 

 the winds, which he calls Monfoons. But this is not the 

 proper place for invcfligating the caufe of the atmofpheric 

 revolution, which, however, likewife depends on the Poles, 

 whofe Atmofpheres are more or lefs dilated in Winter and 

 in Summer, and whofe revolutions muft precede thofe of 

 the Ocean. I fhall confine my attention, at prefent, to tho 

 retardation of the wefterly Current, which does not afFedl the 

 Indian Ocean till the month of May, in order to demon- 

 llrate, that it is the fame which takes it's departure from 

 our Pole, in the month of March, and which takes place 

 in various regions of India at eras proportional to the dif-^ 

 tance of the point from which it fets out. 



This Current arrives, then, toward the month of April, 

 at the Cape of Good-Hope ; and this it is which renders 

 the pafTage round the Cape fo difficult to velfels returning 

 from India in Summer. I fhall once more fupport myfelf, 

 on this ground, by the authority of Dmnpier, in his Voyage 

 round the Worldy vol. ii. chap. 14. This was on his return 

 from India to Europe. 



*' We loft time in trying to reach the Cape, which wc 

 '* could not make till th.c month of October or November ; 

 *< and it was now only the end of March. In fa£l, it is 

 *' not ufual to make the Cape after the tenth of May." 



In 



