516 PASSAGES OVEE THE ATLANTIC. 



EOUTES FOB SmLINO VeSSELS BETWEEN NORTHEKN EuROPE AKD THE 



Southern Poets of the United States, the West Indies, etc., 



BY Captain Maury. 



Get your ofifing, and proceed as though you were bound to Eio, until 

 you get into the N.E. Trades. Then steer West until you fall in with the 

 track of homeward-bound Eio traders, and then take that. 



Shipmasters, bound as above, should study the Wind Chart carefully, in 

 order to ascertain the extreme Northern parallel near which they may 

 rely upon finding the N.E. Trades. The limits of these for the month 

 should then be marked on the Chart for every- day reference and use. 

 Having reached the mean Polar limits for the month, it will, as a rule, 

 be wise to go 2° or 3° farther South, in order to be sure of a good time in 

 " running down the Trades." 



Having reached the parallel of 30°, between 20° and 25** W., the best 

 course is still a little to the West of South, until the parallel of 20° N. be 

 reached. Do not care to make more than 5° of Westing between these two 

 parallels. From 30° N. to 20° N. by this route, the average time will be 

 six days in fall and winter ; five in spring and summer ; thus putting you 

 fairly within the Trades in eighteen days, on the average, from the Channel. 

 It will be less from Lisbon, the ports of Spain, and Gibraltar. 



Now, suppose you enter the Trades at a mean between the meridians of 

 25° and 30° near the parallel ot 20°, you should then " run them down " 

 on that parallel to 60° W. It will take two weeks to do this ; total, so 

 far, from the Channel, 32 days. Arrived here, you are in the fairway of 

 homeward-bound Indiamen and Eio traders ; and from this point every 

 navigator knows the way to his port. If it be on the Atlantic, South of 

 the Chesapeake, 10 days, on the average, will put him into it — total, 

 42 days from the " chops " of the Channel, and from Liverpool a day or 

 two more, from Spain and Portugal a day or two less, to our Atlantic 

 ports. By this route Savannah is brought nearer than Charleston ; and 

 Fernandina made, for the voyage from Europe, our nearest Southern port. 

 If, on the contrary, he be bound into the Gulf, it will take him 15 days, 

 from the homeward-bound Eio track, to put him into New Orleans or 

 Mobile — total to Gulf ports 47 days. These times are for ordinary 

 sailers. A smart ship, with a smart captain, will always make the run in 

 less time. 



This is a mere general sketch of the average route. Clever navigators 

 will know from the charts how to vary it according to the season, and 

 smart ships will gain upon the time, especially in reaching and •' running 

 down the Trades." 



The sketch supposes the ship to enter the Trades near the intersection 

 of the meridian of 25° with the parallel of 20° N. There is no particular 

 advantage in entering the Trades either on that meridian or upon that 

 parallel, or of entering them at all, if you happen to find good winds before 

 you get to the Trades. 



Thus, suppose a vessel to be off the Lizard, bound to Charleston, and 

 that she have a 7 or 8 knot breeze that will enable her to lay up direct for 



