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THE GULF STREAM. 



MAJOR EENNELL was the first, I believe, to whom we 

 owe the comparison of ocean-currents to rivers. He 

 spoke of them as ocean-rivers, and pointed out how 

 enormously their dimensions exceed those of such 

 streams even as the Amazon and the Mississippi. Some 

 of the ocean-currents are from 50 to 250 miles in 

 breadth, and flow more swiftly than the largest navi- 

 gable rivers. The banks and bottom of these currents 

 are not land, but water ; and so deep are the currents 

 that they are turned aside by shoals and banks whose 

 tops are ' 40, 50, or even 100 fathoms beneath the 

 surface of the ocean.' The outlines of ocean-currents 

 are sharply defined, insomuch that < often,' says Captain 

 Maury, ' one half of a vessel may be seen floating in the 

 current, while the other half is in common water of the 

 sea.' The border-line of the Gulf Stream can be traced 

 by the eye. Yet more remarkable is the distinction 

 between the moving water and that which is at rest, 

 when large masses of sea-weed carried along by the 

 former enable one to recognise the rapidity with which 

 it moves. 



Of all the ocean-currents the most important, perhaps, 

 in its bearing on the destinies of men and nations, is 

 the great Gulf Stream. I propose to examine the 



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