Caleb Atwater on the Winds of the West. 983 
be attributed to general rather than to local causes, and it may 
be said that the winters all over the world have been colder 
of late years than formerly. But on the very day, when it 
was thus cold, (if newspapers can be believed) a great num- 
er of vessels put to sea from Reedy Island in the Delaware 
below Philadelphia, and about thirty sail of vessels went to sea 
_ from New-York harbor. 
All our streams were at ihe same time bridged with ice of 
great firmness as well as thickness, and continued to be so for 
a considerable time afterward, until the warmer current of air 
from the south prevailed over the current from the lakes. It 
will be proper, and may be necessary, here to state, that the 
latitudes of several places in this country are very different 
from what you would be led to believe from examining an 
map or chart now or ever in existence. For instance, Lake 
Michigan extends farther south than Fort Wayne, which place 
by actual survey is in this state; St. Louis is not 38°, and the 
most southern point or bend of the Ohio river, is not more than 
latitude 38° north. I state merely what I am informed of by 
those who have ascertained these facts by actual observation 
andsurvey, The place opposite the mouth of the Big Sandy, 
is nearly as far south as Lexington in Kentucky. The south 
end of Michigan lake ought. to be laid down on the map 41° 
north. Prevailing currents of air (not every breath of air 
which moves over the surface) I have attempted to describe. 
It may be well enough, however, to mention some other cur- 
rents which sometimes prevail for a few days. And here I 
Will mention what our oldest settlers along the Ohio have ob- 
Served that is, that whenever ina dry time, there is a current 
of air proceeding down the river for three or four days in suc- 
cession, the current from the Gulf of Mexico is sure to drive it 
back with redoubled force, and after blowing a day or two, it 
is equally sure to bring rain with it. It is easy to assign a 
Cause for it; for meeting the trade winds in the Gulf, it is driven 
back with redoubled violence to the sources of the larger streams 
Which empty themselves into the Gull. 
When a thunder storm, proceeding in either a western or 
eastern direction, as the case may ‘be, happens to strike a large 
