28 THE OCEAN \\ORLD. 



west. This movement is stronger at the edges than in the middle of 

 the current, because the force which produces it acts there with more 

 energy : it results from this, that the currents bifurcate more readily 

 when any obstacle presents itself to their movement. In the Atlantic 

 Ocean, bifurcation takes place a little to the south of the Equator ; 

 the southern branch descends along the coast of Brazil, and probably 

 returns by re-ascending along the west coast of Africa. The northern 

 branch follows the coast of Brazil and Guiana, enters the Sea of the 

 Antilles, and directs its course, reinforced by the current which 

 reaches it from the north-east, into the Bay of Honduras, traverses 

 the Yucatan Channel, and enters the Gulf of Mexico, whence it 

 debouches by the Florida Channel, under the name of the Gulf 

 Stream. Of this oceanic marvel Dr. Maury observes that " there is 

 a river in the bosom of the ocean ; in the several 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. Its waters, as far as the Carolina 

 coast, are of indigo blue ; they are so distinctly indicated that their 

 line of junction can be marked by the eye." Such is Dr. Maury's 

 description of this powerful current of warm water, which traverses 

 the Atlantic Ocean, and influences in no slight manner the climate 

 of Northern Europe, and especially our own shores. 



The Gulf Stream thus described by the American savant issues 

 from the Florida Channel, with a breadth of thirty-four miles, and a 

 depth of 2,200 feet, moving at the rate of four and a half miles per 

 hour. The temperature of the water in the vicinity is about 30 Centi- 

 grade. From the American coast the current takes a north-east 

 direction towards Spitsbergen, its velocity and volume diminishing 

 as it expands in breadth. Towards 43 of latitude it forms two 

 branches, one of which strikes the coast of Ireland and of Norway, 

 whither it frequently transports seeds of tropical origin ; it also warms 

 the frozen waters of the glacial sea. The other branch, inclining 

 towards the south, not far from the Azores, visits the coast of Africa, 

 whence it returns to the Antilles. Throughout this vast circuit may 

 be seen all sorts of plants and driftwood, with waifs and strays of 

 every description borne on the bosom of the ocean. " Midway in 

 the Atlantic, in the triangular space between the Azores, Canaries, 

 and Cape de Verd Islands, is the great Sargassum Sea, covering an 



