﻿286 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONTAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  wind, 
  they 
  could 
  not 
  proceed 
  forward, 
  but 
  backward, 
  and 
  it 
  seemed 
  

   that 
  they 
  were 
  proceeding 
  well; 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  it 
  was 
  known 
  that 
  it 
  

   was 
  in 
  such 
  wise 
  the 
  current 
  which 
  was 
  more 
  powerful 
  than 
  the 
  

   wind." 
  * 
  Thus 
  was 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  first 
  noted. 
  

  

  Apparently 
  the 
  Spaniards 
  soon 
  learned 
  that 
  this 
  northerly 
  flowing 
  

   current 
  was 
  not 
  merely 
  a 
  local 
  current 
  but 
  one 
  of 
  wide 
  extent; 
  for 
  

   six 
  years 
  later, 
  when 
  Antonio 
  de 
  Alaminos 
  set 
  out 
  for 
  Spain 
  from 
  Vera 
  

   Cruz, 
  he 
  sailed 
  northward 
  with 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  

   days 
  before 
  turning 
  east 
  toward 
  Europe. 
  This 
  same 
  Alaminos 
  was 
  

   pilot 
  of 
  Ponce 
  de 
  Leon's 
  expedition 
  of 
  1513 
  when 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  was 
  

   first 
  noted. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  quite 
  proper 
  to 
  credit 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  

   the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  to 
  Alaminos. 
  

  

  EARLIEST 
  GULF 
  STREAM 
  CHART 
  

  

  For 
  two 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  centuries 
  following 
  its 
  discovery 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  

   knowledge 
  regarding 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  was 
  slow. 
  The 
  story 
  is 
  told 
  

   in 
  detail 
  by 
  Kohl 
  ^ 
  and 
  more 
  briefly 
  by 
  Pillsbury. 
  During 
  this 
  period, 
  

   to 
  be 
  sure, 
  the 
  mariner, 
  and 
  more 
  especially 
  the 
  whaler, 
  became 
  

   acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  throughout 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  

   course. 
  Much 
  of 
  this 
  information, 
  however, 
  was 
  kept 
  as 
  a 
  professional 
  

   secret, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  until 
  after 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century 
  

   that 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  current 
  was 
  depicted 
  on 
  a 
  chart. 
  The 
  story 
  of 
  

   how 
  this 
  came 
  about 
  is 
  not 
  without 
  interest, 
  especially 
  as 
  it 
  illustrates 
  

   nicely 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  on 
  navigation. 
  

  

  About 
  1770, 
  complaint 
  was 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  London 
  officials 
  that 
  the 
  

   English 
  packets 
  which 
  came 
  to 
  New 
  York 
  took 
  about 
  two 
  weeks 
  longer 
  

   in 
  crossing 
  than 
  did 
  the 
  Rhode 
  Island 
  merchant 
  ships 
  which 
  put 
  in 
  

   at 
  Naragansett 
  Bay 
  ports. 
  Benjamin 
  Franklin, 
  being 
  in 
  London 
  at 
  

   the 
  time, 
  was 
  consulted 
  about 
  the 
  matter. 
  To 
  quote 
  his 
  own 
  words: 
  

  

  It 
  appearing 
  strange 
  to 
  me 
  that 
  there 
  should 
  be 
  such 
  a 
  difference 
  between 
  two 
  

   places, 
  scarce 
  a 
  day's 
  run 
  asunder 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  j 
  could 
  not 
  but 
  think 
  the 
  fact 
  

   misunderstood 
  or 
  misrepresented. 
  There 
  happened 
  then 
  to 
  be 
  in 
  London 
  a 
  

   Nantucket 
  sea 
  captain 
  of 
  my 
  acquaintance, 
  to 
  whom 
  I 
  communicated 
  the 
  affair. 
  

   He 
  told 
  me 
  he 
  believed 
  the 
  fact 
  might 
  be 
  true; 
  but 
  the 
  difference 
  was 
  owing 
  to 
  

   this, 
  that 
  the 
  Rhode 
  Island 
  captains 
  were 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream, 
  

   which 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  English 
  packets 
  were 
  not 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  When 
  the 
  winds 
  are 
  

   but 
  light, 
  he 
  added, 
  they 
  are 
  carried 
  back 
  by 
  the 
  current 
  more 
  than 
  they 
  are 
  

   forwarded 
  by 
  the 
  wind 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  j 
  then 
  observed 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  pity 
  no 
  notice 
  

   was 
  taken 
  of 
  this 
  current 
  upon 
  the 
  charts, 
  and 
  requested 
  him 
  to 
  mark 
  it 
  out 
  for 
  

   me, 
  which 
  he 
  readily 
  complied 
  with, 
  adding 
  directions 
  for 
  avoiding 
  it 
  in 
  sailing 
  

   from 
  Europe 
  to 
  North 
  America.^ 
  

  

  * 
  L. 
  D. 
  Scisco: 
  The 
  Track 
  of 
  Ponce 
  de 
  Leon 
  in 
  1513, 
  Bull. 
  Amor. 
  Geogr. 
  Soc, 
  Vol. 
  45, 
  pp. 
  721-735, 
  1913; 
  

   reference 
  on 
  p. 
  725. 
  

  

  « 
  J. 
  G. 
  Kohl: 
  Geschichte 
  des 
  Golfstroms 
  und 
  seiner 
  Erforschung 
  von 
  den 
  aitesten 
  Zeiten 
  bis 
  auf 
  den 
  

   grossen 
  amerikanischen 
  Biirgerkrieg, 
  pp. 
  1-114, 
  Bremen, 
  1868. 
  

  

  » 
  A 
  letter 
  from 
  Dr. 
  Benjamin 
  Franklin, 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Alphonsus 
  le 
  Roy, 
  Member 
  of 
  Several 
  Academies, 
  at 
  

   Paris: 
  Containing 
  Sundry 
  Maritime 
  Observations, 
  Trans. 
  Amer. 
  Philos. 
  Soc, 
  Vol. 
  2, 
  pp. 
  294-329, 
  1786; 
  

   reference 
  on 
  pp. 
  314-315. 
  

  

  