rection iu which it is turning, but somewhat faster; this gives the 

 appearance of a westerly wind of considerable force and regular- 

 ity, According to Robbms, a westerly wind almost constantly 

 prevails in about latitude 60 S. in the Pacific ocean. In Hud* 

 son's Bay, westerly winds prevail three -fourths of the year, as also 

 in Kamschatka. Still farther north, as at Melville island, the 

 north, and north-west winds prevail. On account of these winds, 

 the Atlantic may be crossed eastward in about half the time of 

 returning westward. The existence of the upper current of the 

 trade winds was shown in a striking manner at the eruptions of 

 the volcano in the island of St. Vincent in 1812. The trade 

 winds blow with great force from Barbadoes to St. Vincent, but 

 ashes erupted by the volcano fell in profusion from a great height 

 upon Barbadoes, which is about 150 miles westward. Since the 

 westerly winds which prevail in the higher latitudes are caused 

 by bodies of air from the torrid zone, which often descend to the 

 earth before the heat is quite gone, such winds are generally 

 warm, and on the same principle winds which blow directly from 

 the arctic pole, are intensely cold, and, as they must appear 

 from the rotation of the earth, to come from the north-east, our 

 easterly and north-easterly winds are always severely cold. 



We will now consider the causes which result in changing the 

 direction of the trade winds in the Indian ocean, producing what 

 are termed the monsoons. When it is summer in the northern 

 hemisphere the great body of land above the Indian ocean be- 

 coming more heated than the sea, a breeze sets towards the land, 

 which, modified by the rotation of the earth, gives a strong south- 

 east wind. On the contrary, when it is winter in the northern 

 latitudes, the great body of water, as also the vast island of New 

 Holland, becoming more heated than the continent farther north, 

 a wind sweeps over the Indian and southern oceans, whose 

 general direction is south-west ; this wind not being opposed in 

 direction to the rotation of the earth, is more powerful than the 

 other. The interval which separates the monsoons is varia- 

 ble, but occurs generally near the equinoxes, during this interval, 

 violent gales occur called Typhoons. 



According to Mr, Redfield, who has most ^.bly and successfully 



