440 OBSERVATIONS ON THE QUERENTS . 



a distance of 34 miles, depths of 10 fathoms will be found at from 5 to 15 

 miles off shore ; thence to Cape Hatteras that depth is found at 1 to 4 

 miles from the shore. 



(441.) Commander W. W. Kiddle, E.N., remarks, that to steam-ships 

 crossing the Banks of Newfoundland, this Arctic Current offers a ready- 

 means for checking the longitude on the Eastern edge, which should never 

 be lost sight of when the absence of astronomical observations has ren- 

 dered the position doubtful. The degree of accuracy with which this may 

 be cax-ried out is very remarkable, except occasionally towards the close of 

 summer. The Western edge is not so well marked, owing to the drift from 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 



In a similar manner, when approaching St. George's Shoals from the 

 South or East, the thermometer will give unfailing warning of their prox- 

 imity by a sudden fall in the temperature of 2° to 4'^.* 



(442.) In a nautical sense the allusion to this Current is sufficient to 

 guard against its effects in approaching the coast, or in taking advantage 

 >f it to work against the current of the Gulf Stream. Beyond what is 

 stated above, no particular instructions have been issued respecting it. 



(443.) There is another part of the Ocean in connection with this where 

 the currents are not strong or regular, but peculiar. It is the part between 

 Bermuda and the coast of Georgia. There seems to be some connection 

 with the fact of Cape Hatteras cutting off a portion of the Southern pro- 

 gress of this Current, and the very irregular temperatures that are met with 

 to the South-Eastward of that cape. The cold bands alluded to on page 

 405 (395) are, perhaps, a portion of this ; but it certainly seems as if the 

 cold water, after passing under the Gulf Stream, appears on the surface 

 intermingled with the warmer waters of the Equatorial Current, and cause 

 a slight drift to the South-Eastward, and have something to do with that 

 Eastward tendency of the Gulf Stream (403) in throwing off its floating 

 objects to the Eastward of its course — a fact which has been attributed to 

 its being " roof -shaped," a form owing to the greater force and velocity of 

 its centre, which causes the water along the middle of its course to be 

 higher than the lateral portions. 



In the Southern part of this Current its influence on navigation, as said 

 above, is of minor consequence. Its principal feature is its ice-transporting 

 powers in the more Northern portion of its career ; and as this has a most 

 important bearing on the navigation between Europe and America, some 

 notes on this point follow. 



• " Notes going West," an interesting article in the Nautical Magazine, August, 1878, 

 page 726. 



