THE CHANNEL OF YUCATAN. 369 



*t Half- Moon Kay, in the Bay of Honduras, on the 23rd of the next month, April ; 

 /'ate 10 miles per day. 



Tohago to the Cayman. — A Bottle from the American brig Emma, June 17th, 

 1838, in lat. 11° 4', long. 58° 50', was picked up on the 27th of the following 

 fLugust, upon the Eastern shore of the Grand Cayman ; distance 2,000 rniles, at 

 ihe rate oi 28-6 miles per day. 



Windward Channel, between Jamaica and Hayti. — A Bottle from H.M.S. Thunder, 

 in lat. 18° 66', long. 74° 56', April 7th, 1839 ; current then setting S.W. by S. half 

 a knot ; was picked up in the Grand Anse, near J^remie (long. 74° 1'), on the 24th 

 of the same month. 



Hayti to Florida. — A Bottle, from the ship Robert, Captain Coulter, Eastward 

 of Alta Vela, on the South coast of Hayti, was picked up about thirteen months 

 afterward on the shore near St. Mary's, in Florida. 



Some Bottles enumerated in Captain Becher's list : Ship Racehorse, Captain 

 Home, thrown over in lat. 12° 12', long. 65° 50', April 17th, 1836 ; picked up April 

 22nd, at Bonaire, 150 miles in 5 days. Ship Chanticleer, Captain Austen, thrown 

 over February 23rd, 1831, in lat. 15° 30', long. 76° ; picked up on the East coast 

 of Yucatan, April 30th, 680 miles in 56 days. H.M.S. Thunder, Captain Barnett, 

 thrown over at Chagres, April 22nd, 1840; reached Belize, October 1st, 1840. 

 H.M.S. rAwnrfer, March 10th, 1834, thrown over at Serranilla Bank ; picked up 

 near BeUze, April 23rd; 575 miles in 44 days. 



(345.) The Channel of Yucatan, connecting the Caribbean Sea with 

 the Gulf of Mexico, is 105 miles in width, between Cape Antonio and 

 Contoy Island, lying Eastward of Cape Catoche, the N.E. point of 

 Yucatan. The Current most uftially sets with considerable rapidity to 

 the Northward through it, and according to the calculation of observations 

 derived from Major Eennell, Commander Maury, &c., the following is the 

 mean rate of the Current in the various months : — January, 33 miles per 

 day; February, 34 miles per day; March, 36 miles; April, 33 miles ; May, 

 17 miles ; June, 26 miles ; July, 29 miles ; August, 31 miles ; September, 

 30 miles ; October, 38 miles ; November, 36 miles ; December, 48 miles 

 per day. The annual mean of all these observations is 32-7 miles per 

 day. These velocities are much inferior to what might be supposed from 

 the magnitude of the outset of the Gulf Stream, as will be seen hereafter. 



From the monthly results given in the Current Charts drawn up by the 

 Meteorological Office, the annual mean is given as 33 '9 miles per day. 

 Mr. R. Strachan remarks : — The mean velocity of the Yucatan Current is 

 34 miles, but it flows into the Gulf of Mexico, towards N.W. by N., with 

 a velocity of 41 miles ; and at times the Current seems to be carried right 

 across the Gulf. To the North and East there is no escape for it, owing 

 to the Gulf Stream ; hence the check felt in issuing from the Yucatan 

 Channel bears it off to the Westward, but not until it has attained its 

 maximum strength in about lat. 23° N., long. 86° W. There are times, 

 probably, when the Yucatan Current is weaker than the Gulf Stream ; 

 then a counter-current, an overflow from the Gulf Stream, flows round 

 Cape Antonio towards the Isle of Pines. 



Captain Monteath stated as follows : — " In my passage from Kingston 

 toward Campech^, in the ship Fame, June, 1817, between Cape Antonio 

 and Cape Catoche, I found the current to set due North, 27 miles, in a 

 run of eighteen hours." 



N. A, 0. 48 



