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picked up, in the hope of obtaining novel results as to the cur- 

 rents of the ocean. This practice was adopted during the Ant- 

 arctic expeditions with much success, and I have already ob- 

 tained valuable data from my own bottles sent adrift on 

 former voyages. 



After passing Ushant the Maranoa came into the region of 

 Kennel's current, a stream much influenced by the seasons and 

 winds. It follows the north coast of Spain, then sets north 

 along the west of France, and runs at the rate of more than 

 half a mile per hour. It passes the entrance of the English 

 Channel, where it flows at a velocity of a mile an hour, and to 

 it is attributed the loss of many vessels. One branch sets to 

 Cape Clear, and another to St. G-eorge's Channel. 



In lat. 46° 30', long. 7° 10' W., where the current sweeps up 

 from the Bay of Biscay, I cast over three bottles addressed to 

 the Meteorological Office, in the hope of testing seasonal change 

 on this current. It appears, however, from my experiments 

 of a former voyage — which I may mention as of passing inte- 

 rest — that bottles do not always drift with the current, but 

 may to a greater extent than in the opinion of Maury be in- 

 fluenced by the winds. For instance, on May 17th, 1878, when 

 in lat. 48° 19' N. f long. 10° 27' W., a position somewhat to the 

 ivest of this current, I cast over bottles under west-south- 

 westerly winds. These, instead of following the drift, which 

 is strong with west winds, went easterly, right across it, with- 

 out loss of time. One was picked up on the island of Sein on 

 July 12th, one in the Baie de Quiberon about August 21st, an- 

 other on the coast of the Department of Finistere, and a fifth 

 went up channel to Brighton Beach, and was picked up on 

 October 8th following. On the present voyage, in lat 45° 40' 

 N., long. 7° 50' W., where the Biscay current setting to east- 

 south-east joins the loop of Eennel's current setting to west- 

 north-west, I cast over a bottle, and in like manner it did not 

 follow the current, but went right across it nearly at right 

 angles, and was picked up four months afterwards on the coast 

 of the Department of Loire-Inferieure. 



Early on October 22nd we sighted the steep and broken 

 coast line of North-West Spain, a formation which I connect 

 with the Cretaceous period. I was enabled to take several 

 sketches of this interesting scenery with its fiord-like inlets or 

 Has. The action of sub-aerial denudation is very apparent in 

 the rounded bluffs of Finisterre, and debris from the weather- 

 ing action of Atlantic storms is seen in many a talus on the 

 wild declivities of this littoral. Near Cape Carvoeiro the 

 weathering action on the ruddy white chalk is again very ap- 

 parent, and masses of debris cover the cliffs. 



When passing near Lisbon another bottle was sent adrift. 



