THE NOETH EQUATOEIAL CURRENT. 347 



was fcnnd at Acklin or South Crooked Island, in lat. 22° 12 N., long. 74' 18', on 

 December 8th, 1827. Hence it appears to have drifted, in a "W. by N. direction, 

 from the vicinity of the Cape Verde Isles to the West Indies, imder the influence 

 of the drift from the N.E. and the Equatorial Current, probably, in the first 

 instance, W.S.W. and thence W.N.W. 



Madeira to the West Indies. — A Bottle from the ship Symmetry, of Scarborough, 

 Captain Smith, on her way from Leith to Buenos Ayres, off Madeira, June 9th, 

 1825. Picked up at Salt Kay, Turks Islands, after a lapse of ten years, June 9th, 

 1835. 



Cape Verde Islands to Brasil. — The Hazard, of Greenock, August 4th, 1812, lost 

 the N.E. Trade in lat. 11° N., long. 25' W. ; and the wind, imtil the 12th, varied 

 from "West to S.W. ; from the 12th to the 17th it generally blew from South, never 

 exceeding one point Easterly. Gained the S-E. Trade on the 17th, in lat. 2' N., 

 long. 27° 30' W. ; the Trade kept Southward between Penedo de San Pedro, or 

 St. Paul's Islets, and the coast of Brasil (atKio Doce), and experienced a Westerly 

 current amounting to nearly /owr degrees. Attested by Captain J. W. Monteath. 



Beiueen Madeira and Brasil. — In the Jane, Captain Livingston, April and May, 

 1824, found a surplus effect of currents, between Madeira and Brasilian Trinidad 

 in thirty-nme days, equal to 1° 19' 47" S., and 6° 3' W. 



A Bottle from the ship Hesperus, about lat. 37' N., long. 28° W., May 12th, 

 1878, was picked up at Mobile Bay, May 22nd, 1880, having covered a distance 

 of about 5,500 miles, at the mean rate of 8 miles a day. 



A Bottle from the ship Patriarch, in lat. 18° 29' N., long. 27° 8' W., December 

 28rd, 1884, was picked up in 1887 (? date), on the Eastern side of Caicos Bank, 

 having drifted 2,623 miles to W. \ N. 



(310.) The foregoing is a sufficient elucidation of the features, velocity, 

 dnd limits of the N.E. Trade Wind Drift of the Atlantic Ocean, but, as 

 before mentioned, particularly in (58 to 60), pages 131 — 135, the division 

 between the Northern and Southern systems of Wind, and consequently 

 of Current, being to the Northward of the Equator, the South Equatorial 

 Current ultimately combines with the North Equatorial Current, part of 

 their united waters entering the Caribbean Sea, and forming the origin of 

 the Gulf Stream, and the rest appears to trend off to the Northward out- 

 side the islands, as explained hereafter, in the Section dealing with the 

 Gulf Stream. 



6.— THE SOUTH EQUATORIAL CURRENT. 



(311.) The South Equatorial Current, which passes over the Equator in 

 its Northern portion, in its direction is, like that of the Northern Equato- 

 rial Current, nearly due West. Setting upon the Northern coast of South 

 America, it runs with great velocity close in-shore at times, sometimes 

 reaching 100 miles per day, and not unusually 60 miles. It is scarcely 

 necessary to dilate on this Current, as it appears to be regularly and con- 

 stantly met with. Arrived to the Northward of Tobago, it combines with 

 the North Equatorial Current, and the united streams thence proceed as 

 described above. Its progress through the Caribbean Sea, &c., will be 



