132 OUK HERITAGE THE SEA 



on the east, and as there is no direct trade between 

 the south-west coast of Africa and the south-east coast 

 of America, this great space remains unvisited by 

 steamships either, being left as lonely as the Ant- 

 arctic. The vast current of this latter great ocean, 

 while ever tending northward, as might be expected, 

 to fill up with its heavier cold water the immense 

 space left by evaporation, as before noted of the 

 North Atlantic, has another mighty force acting 

 upon it, which virtually transforms it into a world- 

 engirdling stream, eternally sweeping on its majestic 

 path round the globe. 



Here, as nowhere else in the world, is it possible 

 to circumnavigate the globe on a given parallel of 

 latitude without ever sighting land, except perhaps 

 one or two lonely islands. And as it is equally the 

 case in the southern as in the northern hemisphere, 

 that in extra-tropical regions over the sea the prevail- 

 ing winds are westerly, so it will at once be seen how 

 in this wide ocean space the whole body of water 

 must be ever kept marching round the world. Of 

 course where possible it must trend to the northward, 

 owing to its superior specific gravity, as, for instance, 

 where striking the Cape of Good Hope it sweeps 

 northward along the West African coast as far as the 

 equator, being there known as the Benguela current. 

 In the same way it strikes the great peninsula of 

 South America, and sweeps up its western coast until 

 it reaches the equatorial currents. It is there known 

 as Humboldt's current. In like manner it breaks 

 against the great Australian island at Cape Leeuwin, 

 and flows northward to form the West Australian 

 current, and incidentally assists in the forming of 



