

THE GULF STREAM. 91 



lightens it ; cold increases its density , and it will naturally descend. These are, then, among 

 the obvious reasons of its currents. The duration ami force of winds and the tides are both 

 disturbing influences. Such an oceanic marvel as the great Gulf Stream could only be 

 explained after a careful study of all the operating causes of its existence. Dr. Maury 

 has well described it. He says : " There is a river in the bosom of the ocean : in the 

 severest droughts it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows ; its banks 

 and its bottom are of cold water, while its current is of warm ; it takes its rise in the 

 Gulf of Mexico, and empties itself into the Arctic seas ; this mighty river is the Gulf 

 Stream. In no other part of the world is there such a majestic flow of water; its current 

 is more rapid than the Amazon, more impetuous than the Mississippi, and its volume is 

 more than a thousand times greater." This great current of water particularly influences 

 the climates of Northern Europe, and especially those of Britain and Ireland. 



The Gulf Stream, as it issues from the Florida Channel, has a breadth of thirty-four 

 miles, a depth of 2,200 feet, and moves at the rate of four and a half miles an hour 

 " Midway in the Atlantic, in the triangular space between the Azores, Canaries, and 

 Cape de Verd Islands, is the great Sargassum Sea, covering an area equal to the Mississippi 

 Valley; it is so thickly matted over with the Gulf weed (Sargassum baccvferuni] that the 

 speed of vessels passing through it is actually retarded, and to the companions of Columbus 

 it seemed to mark the limits of navigation : they became alarmed. To the eye, at a little 

 distance, it seemed sufficiently substantial to walk upon." The difference of temperature 

 between the Gulf Stream and the waters it traverses constantly gives birth to tempests 

 and cyclones. In 1780 a terrible storm ravaged the Antilles, in which 20,000 persons 

 perished. The ocean quitted its bed, and inundated whole cities; the trunks of great 

 trees and large parts of buildings were tossed wildly in the air. Numerous catastrophes of this 

 kind have earned the Gulf Stream the title of the "King of the Tempests." So well had 

 Maury studied the Gulf Stream and its storms, that he was enabled to point out the exact 

 position of a vessel overtaken by a terrible gale. " In the month of December, 1859," 

 says Figuier, "the American packet San Francisco was employed as a transport to convey 

 a regiment to California. It was overtaken by one of these sudden storms, which placed 

 the ship and its freight in a most dangerous position a single wave, which swept the 

 deck, tore out the masts, stopped the engines, and washed overboard 129 persons, officers, and 

 soldiers. From that moment the unfortunate steamer floated upon the waters, a waif abandoned 

 to the fury of the wind. The day after the disaster the San Francisco was seen in this desperate 

 situation by a ship, which reached New York, although unable to assist her. Another 

 ship met her some days after, but, like the other, could render no assistance. When the 

 report reached New York two steamers were despatched to her assistance; but in what 

 direction were they to go? what part of the ocean were they to explore? The authorities 

 at the Washington Observatory were appealed to. Having consulted his charts as to the 

 direction and limits of the Gulf Stream at that period of the year, Dr. Maury traced on a 

 chart the spot to which the disabled steamer was likely to be driven by the current, and 

 the course to be taken by the vessels sent to her assistance." The steamers went straight 

 to the exact spot, and found the wreck; and although by that time the crew and passengers 

 had been taken off by three passing vessels, it was certainly a triumph of science. 



