INFLUENCE OF THE GULF STREAM UPON CLIMATES. 53 



again. He recognized them as the same, for he had never before 

 seen any hke them ; and on both occasions he frequently hauled 

 up buckets full and examined them. 



Now the Western Islands is the great place of resort for whales ; 

 and at first there is something curious to us in the idea that the 

 Gulf of Mexico is the harvest field, and the Gulf Stream the 

 gleaner which collects the fruitage planted there, and conveys it 

 thousands of miles off to the hungry whale at sea. But how per- 

 fectly in unison is it with the kind and providential care of that 

 great and good Being which feeds the young ravens when they 

 cry, and caters for the sparrow ! 



66. The sea has its climates as well as the land. They both 

 change with the latitude ; but one varies with the elevation above, 

 the other with the depression below the sea level. Each is reg- 

 ulated by circulation ; but the regulators are, on the one hand, 

 winds ; on the other, currents. 



67. The inhabitants of the ocean are as much the creatures of 

 climate as are those of the dry land ; for the same Almighty hand 

 which decked the lily and cares for the sparrow, fashioned also the 

 pearl and feeds the great whale. Whether of the land or the sea, 

 they are all his creatures, subjects of his laws, and agents in his 

 economy. The sea, therefore, we infer, has its offices and duties 

 to perform ; so may we infer, have its currents, and so, too, its 

 inhabitants ; consequently, he who undertakes to study its phe- 

 nomena, must cease to regard it as a waste of waters. He must 

 look upon it as a part of the exquisite machinery by which the 

 harmonies of nature are preserved, and then he will begin to per- 

 ceive the developments of order and the evidences of design which 

 make it a most beautiful and interesting subject for contemplation. 



68. To one who has never studied the mechanism of a watch, 

 its main-spring or the balance-wheel is a mere piece of metal. 

 He may have looked at the face of the watch, and, while he ad- 

 mires the motion of its hands, and the time it keeps, or the tune it 

 plays, he may have wondered in idle amazement as to the char- 

 acter of the machinery which is concealed within. Take it to 

 pieces, and show him each part separately ; he will recognize 

 neither design, nor adaptation, nor relation between them ; but 

 put them together, set them to work, point out the offices of each 

 spring, wheel, and cog, explain their movements, and then show 



