32 THE OCEAN 



stream or current when travelling eastward 

 and took care to avoid it when travelling 

 westward. Franklin considered this of great 

 importance and with the aid and informa- 

 tion furnished by whaling captains he pre- 

 pared and published a chart of the Gulf 

 Stream. This chart, although crude and in- 

 correct, in view of our present knowledge, was 

 excellent for its day and gave a fairly good 

 idea of the general speed, direction and size 

 of the warm ocean current that flows into 

 the North Atlantic from the Caribbean and 

 the Gulf of Mexico. 



We have already seen how the Gulf Stream 

 follows up the coast of our continent, and in 

 the Pacific another similar current, known 

 as the Japan Stream, flows north along the 

 coast of Asia just as the Gulf Stream follows 

 along our own coast. South of the equator, 

 and flowing in the same direction as the south- 

 east trades, are other currents. One of these 

 flows south along the coast of South America 

 and is known as the Brazilian Current while 

 another moves southward around Australia 

 and is called the East Australian Current. 



