356 OBSEKVATIONS ON THE CUEEENTS. 



was supposed to be far distant from Anegada ; but making land in the 

 evening, supposed to be St. Martin's, was wrecked at 11 p.m. on the reefs 

 of Anegada.* 



The American brig Lewis, bound from Philadelphia to St. Thomas's and 

 Maracaybo, and supposed on the day previous to be on the parallel of St. 

 Thomas's, was wrecked on the South-Eastern reef of Anegada, April 9th, 

 1831. 



During his continuance at Anegada, Sir Eobert Schomburgk acquired 

 additional proofs of the existence of a North-Westerly Current. He found 

 on the South-Eastern reef several buoys with tyer (coir) ropes attached to 

 them, which appeared to have come from St. Martin's. On September 24th, 

 1831, after a severe gale, two buoys were found on the same reef, which 

 had probably been attached to anchors on some ground to the S.E. 



On sounding between Virgin Gorda and Anegada, Sir Eobt. Schomburgk 

 threw the log every thirty minutes, and, taking bearings of some remark- 

 able objects, the drift was found to be always Westerly ; and the result 

 appeared to be the same whether the tides set North or South. On one 

 day he left his anchorage, and sailed 10 miles to the Northward of Anegada, 

 where the boat was lowered, and rendered stationary by means of a kettle 

 filled with stones, it being then Southern tide ; in spite of which the log 

 was carried N.W. by W. A similar experiment was made in the waters 

 between Virgin Gorda and Anegada, with the advantage of anchoring ; and 

 the set was always the same, the drift being nearly 1 knot. 



The North-Western or ebb tide between Anegada and Tortola is much 

 stronger than the flood to the S.E. ; undoubtedly from the circumstance 

 that tide and current work the same way. 



On these circumstances Sir E. Schomburgk observes, that the wind, from 

 March to June, frequently blows from the South and S.E., and the velocity 

 of the N.W. Current will be thus increased ; in consequence of which, 

 vessels bound during that time for these islands are more subject to error 

 in their course than at any other period ; and lighter bodies being more 

 influenced by the currents than heavier ones, may be taken as the specific 

 cause af the last remark. 



(326.) The Boilers, or Heavy Ground Swell, off the North-Eastern 

 portion of the Antillas, which has from time to time produced so much 

 mischief, was first described by Sir E. H. Schomburgk, as shown in the 

 Journal of the Eoyal Geographical Society, 1835, to which the reader is 

 referred for a complete explication of the subject. 



The phenomenon appears to be caused by the meeting and combination 

 of the Drift from the N.E., and the Equatorial Current from the S.E. or 

 E.S.E. It rises, rages, and subsides, says Sir E. H. Schomburgk, when 

 the air is calm, when there has been no indication whatever of a previous 

 gale, or even when light airs have, for a considerable period preceding, 

 come from the Southward of East. The waves approach in gentle undu- 

 lations, but suddenly swell against the shore, and break with the greatest 



• A great quantity of cork shavings are annually washed ashore on the North side 

 of Anegada. They are considered to be drifted by the Equatorial Current from the 

 coasts of Spain and Portugal. 



