562 PASSAGES OVER THE ATLANTIC. 



Northern Route {February 1st to August 31st). 



Course. Miles. 

 Gibraltar Strait to off Cape St. Vincent, as before ... N. 71'' W. ... 165 



Thence to lat. il" 30' N., long. 47° 0' W. ... Great Circle ... 1776 



From lat. 41° 30', long. 47° 0', to Sandy Hook lightvessel 



Courses as before (p. 559) ... 1222 



Total Distance ... 3163 



Southern Routes. — By referring to the diagrams facing page 475, 

 it will be seen that, from May to September inclusive, the route passes 

 Westward along the parallel of 36° N. as far as 65° W. During the re- 

 mainder of the year, a more southerly route is recommended, crossing 

 30° W. in 33° N., and thence along the parallel of 33° as far as 65° W. 



Bound Eastward. — ^The routes recommended for steamers bound 

 Eastward pass Southward of the routes for vessels bound Westward. 



12.— FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE EQUATOR. 



In pages 475 — 501, the passage from Europe to Southern latitudes was 

 discussed, and it was there shown that a more Westerly crossing than 

 had heretofore been usual has been attended with great advantage. To 

 those pages we therefore refer the reader, for the arguments which equally 

 apply to the voyage from the Western side of the Atlantic. 



One of the great results of Captain Maury's inquiries was the improve- 

 ment of this route ; and before such a mass of evidence had been collected 

 he recommended the Great Circle route to the longitude of 31° W. on the 

 Equator, as alluded to on page 495. This route, considered in connection 

 with the direction of the Winds and Currents, is that which would 

 naturally be chosen, if the crossing in that longitude would be considered 

 to be a safe one, to guard against being drifted to leeward of Cape 

 St. Roque. Later experience has shown this fear to be fallacious in a 

 great measure, and it seldom occurs that vessels get into difficulties here. 



Captain Maury devotes 220 pages of closely printed matter to this ques- 

 tion ; but we shall only briefly select the prominent points elicited : — 



Off St. Roque the tracks of all sailing vessels bound out of the North 

 Atlantic Ocean into the Southern hemisphere fall in with each other. 

 This is the great passway between the North Atlantic and the other great 

 oceans of the world. Here the tracks of vessels, both from Europe and 

 America, come together, whether their destination be around either Cape 

 Horn or the Cape of Good Hope. Passing the offings of this great pro- 

 montory of Brasil, the highway then forks. All vessels for India, China, 

 or Australia, hugging the wind, turn off to the East; those that are bound 

 around Cape Horn keep straight on ; while those that are bound to the 

 La Plata, to Rio, or to any of the South American ports, being restricted 

 in their courses by the winds on one hand and the land on the other, 

 make the best of their way South, and turn off to the right as they reach 

 the proper parallel. 



