410 rnrsiCAL GEOGRArny of the sea, and its meteorology. 



ice. Of these, 3G7 (or one in five) mentioned kelp or sea-weed 

 east of Cape Horn ; 142 mention " rock- weed and drift matter " 

 between the previous meridian and 10° W., and chiefly between 

 35° and 40° S. " Long kelp " is also found by Australian traders 

 after passing the Cape of Good Hope ; 146 logs make mention of 

 it between the meridians of 40° and 120° E. It most abounds 

 along this line, however, between the meridians of 45° and 65° 

 E., and the parallels of 42° and 48° S. These sargassos arc 

 sketched with a free hand on Plate IX. 



761. A sargasso in the South Pacific. — Sea- weed is frequently 

 mentioned also by the homeward-boimd Australian traders on 

 their way to Cape Horn : this collection has (§ 139) akeady been 

 alluded to. It now appears that instead of three, as stated in 

 former editions of this work, there are really five true sargassos, 

 as shown on Plate IX. 



762. Sea-vjeed about the Falkland Islands. — The weedy space, 

 marked as such, about the Falkland Islands, is probably not a 

 true sargasso. The sea-weed reported there probably comes 

 from the Straits of Magellan, where immense masses of it grow. 

 These straits are so encumbered with sea-weed that steamers 

 •find great difficulty in making their way through it. It so 

 encumbers their paddles as to make frequent stoppages necessary. 



763. The African sargasso. — The sargasso to the west of the 

 Cape of Good Hope, though small, is perhaps the best defined 

 of them all. Mention is generally made of it in the logs as 

 *' rock-w^eed " and "drift matter." Now when it is recollected 

 that weeds have been found as frequently, nearly (§ 760), in this 

 email space as they have been in the large space between the 

 Cape and Australia, the reader wdll be able to form a more 

 correct idea as to the relative abundance of weed in these seas of 

 weed. 



764. Icebergs. — By going far enough south, icebergs may 

 be found on any meridian ; but in searching for them, we can 

 only look where commerce carries our colleagues of the sea. 

 Out of the 1843 tracks traced on the polar side of 35° S., only 

 109 make mention of ice. Few of these went, except in doubling 

 Cape Horn, beyond the parallel of 55° S., therefore we have 

 not been able to track the ice back into the " chambers of the 

 frost." We can only say that north of 50° antarctic icebergs 

 most abound between the meridians of 15° W. and 55° E. 



765. Tlie largest drift farthest.— As> a rule, the bergs which arc 



