IS THE GULF S TEE 'AM A MYTH? lip 



of Newfoundland. Over a part of this course, indeed, 

 the waters of the current are of indigo blue, and so 

 clearly marked that their line of junction with the 

 ordinary sea-water can be traced by the eye. Often,' 

 says Captain Maury, 'one half of a vessel may be 

 perceived floating in Gulf Stream water, while the 

 other half is in common water of the sea so sharp 

 is the line, and such the want of affinity between the 

 waters, and such, too, the reluctance, so to speak, on the 

 part of those of the Gulf Stream, to mingle with the 

 littoral waters of the sea.' 



But it is now denied that there is any current 

 beyond the neighbourhood of Newfoundland or that 

 the warm temperature, which has characterised the 

 waters of the current up to this point, can be detected 

 farther out. 



It is first noticed that, as the Gulf current must 

 reach the neighbourhood of Newfoundland with a 

 north-easterly motion, and, if it ever reached the shores 

 of the British Isles, would have to travel thither with 

 an almost due easterly motion, there is a change of 

 direction to be accounted for. This, however, is an 

 old, and I had supposed exploded, fallacy. The 

 course of the Gulf Stream from the Bernini Straits to 

 the British Isles corresponds exactly with that which is 

 due to the combined effects of the motion of the water 

 and that of the earth upon its axis. Florida being much 

 nearer than Ireland to the equator, has a much more 

 rapid easterly motion. Therefore, as the current gets 

 farther and farther north, the effect of the easterly 



