USE OF THE GULE-STEEAM TO SHIPS. 77 



In order to " descend " on England they allowed themselves to be 

 carried with the Gulf-stream, and on their return crossed this current 

 at the banks of Newfoundland, and " mounted " the Arctic counter- 

 current ; * on these voyages they distanced vessels from other sea- 

 ports, on an average, by 74 miles per day. The progress of navi- 

 gation permits us now to utilize the impelling force of the currents 

 of the North Atlantic far better than the sailors of Providence 

 could. The normal duration of the passage has been reduced to 

 half. Eight weeks were formerly reckoned for a voyage from Eng- 

 land to the United States ; now four weeks suffice for sailing ves- 

 sels, and some have even made the journey in seventeen days only. 

 Steamers, which also have a double route too, in order to avail them- 

 selves of the current, accomplish the passage in nine or ten days. 

 For commerce, civilization, and the brotherhood of peoples, such a 

 result is not less important than as if the continents themselves were 

 shifted, so as to reduce by three quarters the width of the ocean 

 which separates them. 



* J, G. Kohl, Geschichte des Golfstroms, p. 103. 



