WIND AND CURRENT CHARTS : 65 



master-minds have succeeded in gathering within 

 their own grasp the myriad facts collected by thou- 

 sands of naval men, of all countries, in their various 

 voyages ; and, by a careful comparison and philo- 

 sophical investigation of these facts, they have ascer- 

 tained and systematized truths which were before 

 unknown, and have constructed wind and current 

 charts, by the use of which voyages are wonderfully 

 shortened, commercial enterprises greatly facilitated, 

 and the general good and comfort of nations mate- 

 rially advanced. 



The truth of this has of late been proved by in- 

 contestable facts. For instance, one year particular 

 note was taken of the arrival of all the vessels at 

 the port of San Francisco, in California; and it 

 was found that of 124 vessels from the Atlantic 

 coast of the United States, 70 were possessed of 

 Maury's wind and current charts. The average 

 passage of these 70 vessels, on that long voyage 

 round Cape Horn, was 135 days; while the average 

 of those that sailed without the charts (that is, 

 trusted to their own unaided wisdom and expe- 

 rience) was 146 days. Between England and Aus- 

 tralia the average length of the voyage out used, 

 very recently, to be 124 days. With the aid of 

 these charts it has now been reduced to 97 days on 

 the average. 



The saving to commerce thus achieved is much 

 greater than one would suppose. At the risk of 

 becoming tedious to uninquiring readers, we will 



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