56 On the Navigation of Cape Horn. 



er with a moderate breeze from a different direction. This gale 

 continued for several days nearly within the same limits. 



Winds from every point of the compass are met with off Cape 

 Horn. They blow with great violence from every quarter. The 

 secondary causes which govern them seem to follow no laws, save 

 those concealed in their own mysterious effects. The fact that winds 

 with westing, are more prevalent than those with easting, in them, is 

 established from the circumstance, that the return is less dreaded and 

 shorter, than the outward bound passage. The ratio of winds with 

 westing in them to those with easting is as three to owe. 



During the month of our vernal equinox they appear to assume 

 something of the character of periodicals, prevailing from the east- 

 ward ; hence March is considered the most favorable season for pass- 

 ing from the Atlantic around Cape Horn, into the Pacific. In No- 

 vember they are more prevalent from the opposite direction. This 

 is the most favorable month for returning from the Pacific. 



I have before me extracts from the logbooks of a number of ves- 

 sels, that have doubled Cape Horn at different seasons of the year. 

 Of those which have passed the Cape in March, all have had fine 

 weather with eastwardly winds. One of them, in March, performed 

 the passage from Bordeaux, around the Cape, to Callao, without 

 having reefed a sail. 



The recent observations of sealers, engaged in taking skins, for 

 several years, on the South Shetland Islands, go to establish the fact, 

 that the winds there and along the icy continent to the southward, 

 blow from the eastward two thirds of the year, the reverse of what 

 has long been known to be the case in the vicinity of Cape Horn. 



I am informed by some masters of vessels who have been in the 

 habit of coming to the Pacific by the southern route that by going as 

 far south as 63°, they have not only a smoother sea, but a climate 

 less boisterous and rigid. The fact of this comparative mildness of 

 climate is not attested sufficiently to be admitted as a truth. It is 

 near the region of perpetual ice. The eastwardly winds that prevail 

 near the South Shetlands and along the icy continent, are eddies to 

 the gales from the westward, sweeping over regions a little to the 

 north. They are confined to certain parallels by the same peculiar- 

 ity of causes, by which they are put in motion. 



The icebergs common in the lat. 63° are serious objections to some, 

 why the southern rout should never be attempted, but the probabili- 

 ty of falling in with them, is less to be dreaded, than are the injuries 



