CURRENTS AND STREAMS 31 



rents are regular, but the water, moving in 

 much the same manner and being still fur- 

 ther pushed along by the winds, cannot con- 

 tinue to flow in the direction in which it 

 starts because of the various continents and 

 islands in its pathway and hence it flows in 

 the direction of the least resistance and fol- 

 lows, more or less, the shores of the lands 

 towards north and south. 



Although it is only within comparatively 

 recent years that scientists h^ve studied the 

 Gulf Stream and have made systematic sur- 

 veys and explorations of this great ocean 

 river, yet it has been known for many cen- 

 turies. Even Columbus noticed the current 

 and later navigators were familiar with it. 

 The first chart of the Gulf Stream was pub- 

 lished by Benjamin Franklin, however. When 

 the great statesman was Postmaster General 

 of the Colonies he noted that the Royal Mail 

 packets took a longer time to cross the ocean 

 than did the ships sailing to and from Massa- 

 chusetts and Rhode Island. A conference 

 with various captains resulted and the Ameri- 

 can skippers stated that they sailed in the 



