284 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA, AND ITS METEOROLOGY. ' 



the great extra-troj^ical deserts of the earth, with those regions m 

 Europe and Asia which have the least amount of precipitation 

 upon them, should he within this range. That they are situated 

 under the lee of the southern continents, and have but little rain, 

 may be a coincidence, I admit ; but that these deserts of the Old 

 World are placed where they are is no coincidence — no accident : 

 they are placed where they are, and as they are, by design ; and 

 in being so placed, it was intended that they should subserve 

 some grand pm'pose in the terrestrial economy. Let us see, 

 therefore, if we can discover any other marks of that design — any 

 of the purposes to be subserved by such an arrangement — and 

 trace any connection between that arrangement and the supposi- 

 tion which I maintain as to the place where the w^inds that blow 

 over these regions derive their vapours. It will be remarked at 

 once that all the iuland seas of Asia, and all those of Europe ex- 

 -cept the semi-fresh-water gulfs of the north, are witlnn this range. 

 The Persian Gulf and the Eed Sea, the Mediterranean, the Black, 

 and the Caspian, all fall within it. And why are they planted 

 there ? Why are they arranged to the north-east and south-west 

 imder this lee, and in the very dh'ection in w^hich theory makes 

 this breadth of thirsty winds to prevail ? Clearly and obviously, 

 one of the purposes iu the divine economy was, that they might 

 replenish with vapour the winds that are almost vapourless when 

 they arrive at these regions in the general system of circulation. 

 And why should these winds be almost vapourless ? They are 

 almost vapomdess because their route, in the general system of ck- 

 culation, is such, that they are not brought into contact with a 

 water-surface from which the needful supplies of vapour are to 

 be had ; or, being obtained, the supphes have since been taken away 

 by the cool tops of mountain ranges over which these ^^dnds have 

 had to pass. 



546. In the Mediterranean, the evaporation is greater than the 

 The Mediterranean prccipitatiou. Upou the Eed Sea there never falls 

 ^""^'^ ^'- a drop of rain ; it is all evaporation. Are we not, 



therefore, entitled to regard the Eed Sea as a make-weight, thrown 

 in to regulate the proportion of cloud and sunshine, and to dis- 

 pense rain to certain parts of the earth in due season and in pro- 

 per quantities ? Have we not, in these two facts, evidence conclu- 

 sive that the winds which blow over these two seas come, for the 

 most part, from a dry countiy — from regions which contain few 

 or no pools to furnish supphes of vapom' ? 



