58 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



drifted, with the view of intercepting and speaking homeward- 

 bound vessels that might have seen the wreck. 



The cutter was to proceed to c, where she might expect to fall 

 in with tlie line of drift taken by the steamer. The last that was 

 seen of that ill-fated vessel was when she was at o. So, if the 

 cutter had been in time, she had instructions that would have 

 taken her in sight of the object of her search. 



It is true that, before the cutter sailed, the Kilby, the Three 

 Bells, and the Antarctic, unknown to anxious friends at home, 

 had fallen in with and relieved the wreck ; but that does not de- 

 tract from the system of observations, of the results of which, 

 and their practical application, it is the object of this work to 

 treat. 



A beautiful illustration of their usefulness is the fact that, though 

 the bark Kilby lost sight of the wreck at night, and the next morn- 

 ing did not know which way to look for it, and could not find it, 

 yet, by a system of philosophical deduction, we on shore could 

 point out the whereabouts of the disabled steamer so closely, that 

 vessels could be directed to look for her exactly where she was to 

 be seen. 



74. These storms, for which the Gulf Stream has such attrac- 

 tion, and over which it seems to exercise so much control, are 

 said to be, for the most part, whirlwinds. All boys are famihar 

 with miniature whirlwinds on shore. They are seen, especially 

 in the autumn, sweeping along the roads and streets, raising col- 

 umns of dust, leaves, &c., which rise up like inverted cones in the 

 air, and gyrate about the centre or axis of the storm. Thus, while 

 the axis, and the dust, and the leaves, and all those things which 

 mark the course of the whirlwind, are traveling in one direction, 

 it may be seen that the wind is blowing around this axis in all di- 

 rections. 



Just so w^ith some of these Gulf Stream storms. That repre- 

 sented on Plate X. is such a one. It was a rotary storm. Mr. 

 Piddington, an eminent meteorologist of Calcutta, calls them Cy- 

 cloins. * 



75. Now, what should make these storms travel toward the 

 Gulf Stream, and then, joining it, travel along with its current ? 

 It is the high temperature of its waters, say mariners. But why, 

 or wherefore, should the spirits of the storm obey in this mannei? 



