Ixîv rXPLANATION OF THE PLATSS, 



a doubt, the fluviatic feeds of the Orkneys are carried along, 

 in Summer, to the fhores of Jamaica, by the flux of the 

 North Pole. 



Thefe felf-fame correfpondencies mufl fubfift between 

 the vegetables of Holland and of the Azores. I am not 

 acquainted with any of the feeds peculiar to the rivers of 

 Jamaica ; but I am abfolutely certain, that they poflefs the 

 nautical characters which I have obferved in thofe of all 

 fluviatic plants. Here, then, is a new confirmation of the 

 vegetable harmonies of Nature, founded on the emigration 

 of plants. It may be likewife applied to the emigration of 

 fifhes, w^hich purfue fuch long and winding diredions 

 through the open Sea, guided, unquefl;ionably, by the float- 

 ing feeds of fluviatic plants, for which they have, in all 

 countries, a decided preference of tafl:e, and which Nature 

 produces on the banks of rivers particularly, with a view to 

 their nourifhment. 



It appears to me poffible for Mankind, by means of the al- 

 ternate Currents of the Ocean, to maintain a regular mutual 

 correfpondence, free of all expenfe, over all the maritime coun- 

 tries of the Globe. It might, perhaps, be pofllble, by thefe 

 means, to turn to very good account thofe vaft forefls which 

 cover the northern diftri£ls of Europe and of America, 

 confifting moftly of fir, and which rot on the face of thofe 

 deferted lands, without producing any benefit to Man. 

 They might be committed, in Summer, in well-compà£ted 

 floats, firlt to the current of the rivers, and afterward to that 

 of the Ocean, which would convey them, at leaft, to the 

 Latitude of our coafts which arc ftrippeU of planting, as the 

 courfe of the Rhine pours every year into Holland, prodi- 

 gious rafts of oak, felled in the forefts of Germany. The 



wrecks 



