THE G ULF STBEA3f. 20 



velous things In this world of waters — derives its name 

 from the Gulf of Mexico. The general direction of this 

 stream is -in the arc of a great circle, towards England, by 

 which it is divided; one branch, passing to the west and 

 north, reaches the coast of Norway, and can be perceived on 

 the southern borders of Iceland and Spitzbergen. The 

 Avaters are of a deep indigo blue, and are so distinctly 

 marked that their line of junction with the common sea- 

 water may be traced by the eye. 



The existence of the Gulf Stream can also be readily as- 

 certained by means of a thermometer, the temperature be- 

 ing so elevated. It is this warmth which tempers and 

 softens the climate of all Western Europe. It is the influ- 

 ence of the Gulf Stream upon the climate that makes Ireland 

 the Emerald Island of the sea, and clothes the shores of 

 England with evergreen robes ; while in the same latitude, 

 on our side of the Atlantic, the shores of Labrador are 

 fast bound in fetters of ice. How wonderful is this benefi- 

 cent operation of Providence, when we think that this warm 

 stream felt on England's shores, which are thus bathed with 

 water heated under a tropical sun, comes from a distance of 

 four thousand miles I Nor is its influence thus circum- 

 scribed. In mid-winter, off the inclement coasts between 

 Cape Hatteras and New Foundland, ships, when beaten 

 back from their harbors by fierce north-westers, loaded 

 down with ice, and in danger of founding, turn their 

 prows to the east, and seek relief and comfort in the Gulf 

 Stream. In high northern latitudes, after having run three 

 thousand miles towards the north, it still preserves even in 

 winter the heat of summer. With this temperature, it 

 spreads itself out for thousands of square miles over the 

 cold waters around, and covers the ocean with a mantle of 

 warmth thjat serves so much to mitigate in Europe the 

 rigors of winter. 



With a breadth of about fifty miles in its narrowest por- 



