322 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CURRENTS. 



he had noticed a ship to lose ground to the Eastward while standing in- 

 shore of Beachy Head during a strong flood tide and moderate Westerly 

 breeze. At about 5 p.m. the wind veered to the N.E., and even then, 

 although the vessel was going at the rate of 3^- knots through the water, 

 she made very little way to the Westward till toward sun-down, when 

 the breeze freshened to 7 or 8 knots. During the night, passed Cape 

 Ortegal ; and the next morning, at 6 a.m., the light tower at the entrance 

 of Coruna bore South. 



Upon going over the two days' work, July 27th and 28th, it appeared 

 that, instead of passing, as supposed, to the Westward of Madeira, the 

 Napoleon was actually out of sight of the island to the Eastivard ; and 

 had the vessel been involved in fog, or have been bound to Lanzarote or 

 Fuerte Ventura, and steering, by reckoning, a fair course for them, the 

 consequence must have been that she must have fallen into broken water 

 when least expected, or have grounded on the mainland, somewhere 

 between Cape Ghir and Cape Noon, and property, if not life, would have 

 been lost. 



(271.) Coasts of Spain and Portugal. — Besides the Northern branch of 

 the Atlantic Easterly drift which sets into the Bay of Biscay, there is a 

 Southern branch, which from Cape Ortegal turns gradually to the S.E. 

 and Southward along the coast, and, after passing Cape St. Vincent, sets 

 Eastward towards the Strait of Gibraltar. This is in ordinary weather, 

 but with strong Westerly winds it sets towards the land, and this unsus- 

 pected drift has led to the loss of numerous vessels, as detailed previously 

 on page 317. With strong Southerly winds, the current may be found 

 setting Northward, 



Due attention to the soundings, when the position is uncertain, should 

 keep a vessel clear of danger along this coast, bearing in mind the Easterly 

 onshore current usually accompanying N.W\ and Westerly winds, and the 

 effects of the heave of the sea affecting the steering. 



(272.) The following remarks on the Currents on the Western coast of 

 the Spanish Peninsula are given in the Anuario Hidrografico for 1867 ; — 



On the Western shore of the Peninsula the Currents are strong, and in 

 its immediate neighbourhood run from South to North, and North to South, 

 according to the prevailing wind. But in the offing they incline to the 

 N.E. or S.B., according as the wind may be S.W. or N.W^ Against these 

 onshore winds vessels must therefore take precaution, for if the S.W. wind 

 is blowing, or even the N.W. also, the vessel will drift to the shore. Expe- 

 rience has shown that allowance must be made for drift by steering more 

 Westerly courses than the lay of the coast would require to keep clear of 

 it, especially when it is blowing hard. 



It is observed on the coast of Galicia, and the same would naturally 

 occur on the coast of Portugal, that, on one or even two days previous to 

 a gale, the Current sets towards that point of the horizon from which it 

 will eventually come ; that is, when the Current sets to the South without 

 any apparent cause, the Vendaval (144) will come in a gale, and a similar 

 result follows when the Current sets to the North. So that the fishermen, 

 who have most to do with allowing for Currents, know very well by them 

 when a N.E. or S.W. wind is about to set in. 



