352 ' OBSESVATIONS ON THE CUEKENTS. 



the surveying steamer Blake, in 1879, concluded that " the Equatorial 

 Current, which sets directly against the Windward Islands, is by them and 

 their connected ridges deflected Northward, and so following their outer 

 edge passes around the Virgin Islands to the Westward and through the 

 deep channel to the Northward of San Domingo." He suggests, also, that 

 on reaching Cuba the current divides, a part flowing N.W. through the Old 

 Bahama Channel, and a part through the Windward Passage between 

 Cuba and San Domingo, and thus, by Cape San Antonio into the Gulf of 



Mexico. 



He also remarks :^" The Current, always found flowing North along 

 the Eastern side of South America, on reaching Tobago divides, part join- 

 ing the Equatorial Current setting North along the chain of islands ; the 

 remainder following the coast-line of Trinidad and the Spanish Main, and 

 so around the entire circumference of the Caribbean Sea, finding at last an 

 outlet at the Mona Passage and Anegada Channel, to join the Equatorial 

 Current on its way to the Gulf of Mexico." 



Both these theories are quite contrary to that founded on later inves- 

 tigations made in the same vessel by Lieutenant Pillsbury and other officers. 

 Professor Alexander Agassiz, who accompanied Commander Bartlett, 



says : " In the present state of our knowledge it is difficult to trace the 



path of the Equatorial water as it is forced into the Eastern Caribbean."* 



(317.) Lieutenant Pillsbury states that, from his observations, the Current 

 caused by the S.E. Trade Wind sets towards the Windward Islands with 

 varying strength, and leaves the island of Tobago with a course about 

 N.N.W., joining the current caused by the N.E. Trade S.W. of Barbados. 

 The imited flow is then between the islands, the strongest being in the 

 passage South of St. Lucia, and lessening in velocity in the passages to the 

 Northward as the latitude increases. Beneath the Westerly surface current 

 in these passages is an underflow setting out to the Eastward. 



(318.) Bottles. — A bottle from the ship Patriarch, in lat. 12° 47' N., long. 

 24° 47' W., December 20th, 1884, was picked up afloat at Colon, February 

 1st 1886. It had thus traversed a distance of about 3,500 miles in 408 

 days, or at the rate of over 9 miles a day. 



A bottle, thrown from the steamer Patrician, December 12th, 1887, in 

 lat. 1° 10' S., long. 27° 3' W., was picked up Februai-y 10th, 1888, in lat. 

 2° 19' S., long. 42° W., a drift of about 900 miles to W. ^ S. in 60 days, 

 at the rate of 15 miles a day. (See Drift diagram, page 297). 



A bottle, thrown overboard off Pernambuco, Brasil, July 28th, 1885, was 

 picked up on the beach at Little Cayman Island, West Indies, March 1st, 

 1888, where it had probably lain more than 2 years. 



(319.) An example of an extraordinary velocity on the Northern edge of 

 this Current is given by Captain W. Code, ship Albion: 1857, from August 

 5th, noon, la't. 0° 36' N., long. 43° 21' W., to 6th, noon, lat. 1° 51' N., long. 

 45° 59' W., experienced a Current of N. 72° W. 73 miles, although not the 

 slightest rippling or agitation of the sea was visible. 



On the 7th, at noon, lat. 3° 50' N., long. 48° 40' W., the Current was 



• "Three Cruises on the United States Coast Survey Steamer r.hihe, 1877—1880." by 

 Alexander Agassis^, 2 vols., 1888. 



