308 OBSEEVATIONS ON THE CUEKENTS. 



" One circumstance, and that a very striking one, in respect to this par- 

 ticular, is, that the soundings in the Bay of Biscay show little or no muddy 

 bottom to the Southivard of the Gironde Biver, but everywhere to the 

 Northward. This seems to show that the mud of the Gironde, Gharente, 

 Loire, &c., &c., is all carried to the Northward ; and by what cause but a 

 Northerly current ? Had the motion of the sea been variable, the mud 

 would surely have been distributed to the South, as well as to the North, 

 of the mouth of the Gironde. The alluvial embouchures of the rivers in 

 general here, and the positions of the banks formed by them in the sea, 

 point to the North or N.W. ; apparently the effect of the same sea- 

 current."* 



(258.) From experiments made by Prince Albert of Monaco, in his 

 yacht Hirondelle, in the summers of 1885, 1886, 1887, and 1888, with 

 floats of peculiar construction, he considers that during the summer there 

 is no current setting East along the North coast of Spain, and thence to 

 the Northward. On the contrary, his experiments show that the Current 

 sets S.S.E. into the Bay of Biscay, and then due West along the North 

 coast of Spain around Cape Finisterre. As before stated, there is no doubt 

 that this Current largely depends upon the prevailing winds. 



(259.) Caution. — Great caution is necessary when approaching the 

 parallel of Cape Finisterre from the Northward, on account of the pro- 

 bable indraught into the Bay of Biscay, and no favourable opportunity 

 should be lost for ascertaining the error, if any, of the navigating compass. 

 Great loss of life and property annually occurs on this coast, f thi'ough 



* From a view of the Chart of Soundings between Spain and Ireland, one might be 

 led to suppose that the deep water and steep shore along the North coast of Spain had 

 been partly occasioned by the water driven in from the Atlantic, in Westerly storms, 

 along that coast ; and which had gradually worn away the matter there, and deposited 

 it on the bank which extends from Bayonne to the Westward of Ireland. For the bank 

 seems to expand, as it goes Northward, in like manner as the Current ; and the water 

 is shallower than might be expected, in proportion to the depths farther in. 



t During the five years 1888 — 1892 inclusive, 176 British merchant vessels were 

 wrecked on the North and West coasts of Spain and Portugal. 



Our readers will not fail to remember the loss of H.M.S. Serpent, with only three sur- 

 vivors out of the crew of 176. She struck at 10.30 p.m., November 10th, 1890, under 

 Cape Villano, and at once broke up. The finding of the Court Martial which investi- 

 gated the loss was, that it arose from " an error in judgment of those responsible for 

 the navigation of the ship, in not having shaped a course sufficiently to the Westward." 



In connection with this, it may be stated that H.M.S. Lapwing, on the following 

 night, unexpectedly made the land near Cape Villano, having previously during the day 

 ascertained by a momentary glimpse of the sun that the vessel had been set 60 milet 

 out of her course into the Bay. 



Again, early in the morning of February 7th, 1893, the Anchor Line steamer 

 Trinaeria was wrecked in the same locality, from the same cause, with the loss of thirty- 

 four lives, only seven of the crew and oae passenger being saved by swimming ashore. 

 The vessel was on the rocks and amidst the breakers almost before those on board had 

 time to apprehend danger. 



Case after case could be recorded, showing that though the dangerous character of 

 the current hereabout is known, due allowance for it is not always made, in some cases 

 with fatal results. Some further remarks and cautions are given hereafter, in the 

 Section on Passages, showing that danger might be averted by the use of the deep-sea 



