CUKKENTS OF THE OCEAN. 33 



to witness the safety of the passengers and crew. But the point 

 where the steamer foundered shortly after they were transferred to 

 the rescuing ships was precisely that indicated by Dr. Maury. If the 

 ships sent to their assistance had reached in time, the triumph of 

 SCIENCE would have been complete. 



The equinoctial currents of the Pacific are very imperfectly known. 

 It is believed, however, that they traverse the Great Ocean in its 

 whole length, and bifurcate opposite the Asiatic coast, where the 

 weakest branch bends northward until it encounters the polar current 

 from Behring's Straits, when it returns along the Mexican coast. The 

 larger branch inclines towards the south, passing round Australia, 

 where it is met by one or many counter currents coming from the 

 Indian Ocean of the complicated and dangerous nature of which 

 both Cook and La Peyrouse speak. 



The cold waters from the Antarctic Pole are carried towards the 

 Equator by three great oceanic rivers. The first bifurcates in forty- 

 five degrees ; one portion goes round Cape Horn ; the other Hum- 

 boldt's current ascends the Chilian and Peruvian coasts up to the 

 Equator, ameliorating the rainless climate as it goes, and making it 

 delightful. A second great current takes the direction of the African 

 coast, and is divided at the Cape, ascending both the east and west 

 coasts of Africa. On either side of the warm current which escapes 

 from the intertropical parts of the Indian Ocean, but especially along 

 the Australian coast, a polar current wends its way from the Antarctic 

 regions, carrying supplies of cold water to modify the climate and 

 restore the equilibrium in that part of the world. This cold current 

 turns at first towards the west, then towards the south in the direction 

 of Madagascar ; more to the south still it is driven back by the polar 

 current from Cape Horn. It is thus that the warm waters from the 

 Bay of Bengal, pressed by the Indian polar current, circulate between 

 Africa and Australia, one lateral branch of the current sweeping along 

 the south coast of this vast continent. 



The monsoons which reign in the Indian Ocean tend still more to 

 complicate the currents, already sufficiently intricate and confused. 

 But it is not intended at present to occupy the reader's attention 

 further with these questions of intricate currents. 



We have already spoken of a submarine current which appears to 



D 



