Observations in the North Atlantic. 355 



direction and force, that the superficial currents produced by 

 it go far to destroy any faith that could be placed in observed 

 drift. Thus, on the afternoon of the 27th February, at 3 P.M., 

 the wind was north, with a force of 7 ; about 9 its force had 

 increased to 10 ; it continued at north during the night, blow- 

 ing hard, and early in tlie morning drew round to NW. The 

 drift during these twenty-four hours was S. 25° W., twenty- 

 one miles ; and on the following day it was S. 45° E., sixteen 

 miles, the wind having been mostly from the NW., and fresh. 

 On the 2d and 3d March the drift was, N. 61° E., twenty-three 

 miles, and, N. 82° E., twenty-nine miles respectively ; but from 

 the evening of the 1st to the morning of the 3d it had blown 

 hard from the SSW., and had then backed to NW. by W. ; 

 the amount and direction of the drift, however, indicate a gene- 

 ral motion of the water to the north-eastward. 



From the 28th February to the 3d March the temperature 

 of the water diminished rapidly, and its specific gi'avity varied 

 from 1-02758 to 1-02712, fluctuations that might naturally be 

 expected along the outer edge of the Gulf Stream, under the 

 influence of the gales then experienced. 



The drift on the 4th March was, S. 18° W., thirteen miles ; 

 on the 5th, S. 63" E., eleven miles ; and on the 6th, N. 41° 

 W., eleven miles. The ship reached soundings on the after- 

 noon of the 5th, and passed into that current which is laid 

 down in the charts as flowing along the eastern shores of the 

 Bay of Biscay, and across the entrance of the English Channel. 

 The water of this cui-rent presented a muddy appearance, and 

 was cooler, and of a somewhat lower specific gravity than that 

 to the westward of it. 



The disposition of the currents in the Northern Atlantic, 

 leading, as it does, to a peculiar distribution of temperature in 

 the surface of the sea, gives rise to some important considera- 

 tions as to the causes of its storms, and the localities in which 

 they originate. Since the appearance of Colonel Reid's Avork 

 on Storms, it has been frequently supposed that hurricanes 

 originating in the West Indies might even extend to this 

 country, and that the course of these storms was in some mea- 

 sure directed by the Gulf Stream. That storms are frequent 

 along the outer margin of the Gulf Stream, every year's ex- 



