CURRENTS AND STREAMS 21 



times be seen, sharply outlined against the 

 duller waters of the surrounding ocean. 

 When such conditions occur the curved and 

 irregular course of the stream appears like a 

 ribbon of brightest blue winding through the 

 sea, and, looking downwards from a steamer's 

 deck, passengers actually may watch the ship 

 enter the great river and even may see half of 

 the vessel in the blue water of the Gulf Stream 

 and the other half still in the dark, dull ocean 

 water which forms its banks. Usually, how- 

 ever, the transition from the ordinary water 

 to that of the stream is very gradual, for at the 

 surface the waves and winds cause the warm 

 and cold waters to mingle and it is hard to say 

 at just what point the ship enters the stream. 



Every hour that the ship travels further 

 into the Gulf Stream the air becomes warmer 

 and soon the passengers find themselves in a 

 mild and balmy climate, even though wintry- 

 winds may whistle about the buildings in the 

 cities from which they sailed and the land, a 

 couple of hundred miles distant, may be cov^ 

 ered with snow. To have a home in or be- 

 yond the Gulf Stream would be to live in a 



