540 PASSAGES OVEE THE ATLANTIC. 



It seems probable, from all that we have said on the Winds and Cur- 

 rents, that on prosecuting a North- Westerly course, from the Bank of 

 Channel Soundings, the Winds and Currents respectively may counteract 

 and balance each other ; that, on further prosecution of the same course, 

 the winds will be found less Westerly, and therefore more favourable 

 than in the more Southerly parallels ; and that, in advancing toward the 

 mouth of Davis Strait, the advantages both of wind and current may be 

 combined. 



Caution must be taken not to advance too near the Eastern coast of 

 Newfoundland, if bound to New Brunswick or the Southern ports ; nor to 

 the Eastern coast of Cape Breton Island, as here the vessel may be swept 

 round by the strong Westerly currents, described in the preceding pages 

 (431 to 440), and which, instead of producing mischief, may prove highly 

 advantageous in facilitating the ship's course. 



The propriety of these arguments was confirmed by experience, in more 

 than forty passages made to and from New Brunswick, &c., by Lieutenant 

 Charles Hare, of the Eoyal Navy, previous to the autumn of 1824. An- 

 nexed is a copy of that gentleman's communication.* 



" Ships from Scotland, in the spring of the year, and bound to New 

 Brunswick, have always arrived sooner than those from the English 

 Channel; which is attributed to their being more to the Northward on 

 leaving the land, 



" Ships from Liverpool generally arrive before those which sail from the 

 English Channel ; the cause being the same. 



" In the spring of the year, I would never go to the Southward of lat. 

 46° or 47°, until I reached long. 37° or thereabout; then edge to the 

 Southward as far as lat. 43°, in order to avoid the Icebergs, keeping a very 

 strict look-out ; this parallel (43°) I should endeavour to preserve, or nearly 

 80, but nothing to the Southward, until up to Cape Sable, Nova Scotia ; 

 for it carries you to a safe and proper distance from Sable Island, a place 

 that cannot be too much dreaded. In this track you will be without the 

 Northern edge of the Gulf Stream, and assisted by a South-Westerly 

 current from the Banks until past that island, 



" In the fall of the year my track is far more to the Northward than in 

 the spring. On leaving the land as late as the middle of October, or 

 thereabout, I generally steer to the North- Westward until I get as far 

 North as 55°, and until I enter the longitude of 30°, then edge to the 

 Southward, to enter the Banks in lat. 46°, shaping again a course to pass 

 about 60 miles to the Southward of Sable Island, as above. If bound to 

 Halifax, and very sure of my latitude, I might be tempted to pass to the 

 Northward of Sable Island ; but, at all events, it would be at great risk ; 

 and I should not, under any circumstances, recommend a stranger to 

 attempt it, as the weather is mostly foggy, and the set of the currents 

 unaccountable. Numerous gannets are always hovering about this island. 



• Many succeeding passages made by Captain Hare, since 1824, conourrad to prove 

 the propriety of these directions, which have been highly approved by American as well 

 as by English captains. This gentleman had crossed the Atlantic for the ninety-eighth 

 time, in the y^ar 1839, and the one-hundred and eleventh in 1346. 



