689 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON WINDS. ETC. 



and boiling like a pot, and breaking in all directions. When a vessel 

 comes amongst them, she is shaken and beaten by the waves, on all sides, 

 in such a manner, that one would imagine that she could not withstand 

 their force ; however, this confusion does not last long. The best way to 

 manage a sailing ship entering the calms is immediately to haul up the 

 courses, and diligently attend the braces, to catch every puff of wind that 

 offers, in order to impel the ship into them as soon as possible. The crew 

 must not think it strange to be obliged to brace about the yards every 

 two or three minutes, according as the wind veers and hauls ; but after a 

 ship is once fairly into the calms, she will either find a dead calm and 

 smooth water, or a pleasant and constant breeze at South or S.W., 

 according as the wind blows without, to which this eddy-wind, as it may 

 be called, always blows in an opposite direction." 



Currents. — Between Madeira and the Canary Islands, West of the 

 meridian of Madeira the current sets to S.S.W., and to the East of it 

 S.S.E. and sometimes S.E. South of the Canaries it generally runs 

 South to S.S.W., and to westward from South to S.W. The velocity 

 averages from 12 to 18 miles in the 24 hours. With regard to this 

 subject, Captain Beechey, in his narrative of the voyage of the Blossom, 

 observes : — " As I purposed touching at Santa Cruz we immediately 

 hauled up for the land, and it was a fortunate circumstance that we did 

 so ; for so strong a current set to the southward during the night, that, 

 had we trusted to our reckoning, the port would have been passed, and 

 there would have been much difficulty in regaining it. I mention this 

 circumstance with a view of bringing into notice the great southerly set 

 that usually attends the passage of ships from Cape Finisterre southward. 

 From this cape to Point Naga, our error in that direction, or more cor- 

 rectly S. 33° W. {true), was not less than 90 miles." 



St. Brandon or San Boronbon Island was reported by old navigators to 

 lie to tbe North or N.E. of Palma, and is sMd to have been lan^©^ O^i by 

 a Scotcli monk, from whom its name is derived, in a. d. 565 ; its ^ast 

 recorded appearance was in 1759. The most rational explanation pf this 

 mysterious island is that of mirage, and its reported appearance is similkr 

 to tbat of Palma, higher at the ends than in the centre. «- 



Directions for Sailing among the Canary Islands, by Captain 

 (jlg^g,_lf a sailing ship, lying at the island of Palma, wants to proceed to 

 Lanzarote, and will not wait for a fair wind (which, indeed, seldom blows 

 there, especially in the summer season), let her stand over to the N.W. 

 side of ienerife, and beat up along shore untU she weathers Anaga Point ; 

 thence, with the wind that generally prevails in these parts, she will be 

 able to weather Canaria, and fetch Point Jandia, Fuerteventura, ot 

 perhaps Morro Jable, the southern point, whence it is easy to beat up to 

 Pozonegro, along the East side of the island, because there the sea is 

 always smooth. It is not quite so easy to beat up from Pozonegro to the 

 Isle of Lobes ; yet it may be done without difficulty when the weather is 

 moderate. If the wind should happen to blow hard, she may stop in the 

 Bay of Las Playas, until it proves more favourable. From the Isle of 

 Lobos, she will find no difficulty in beating up to Puerto de Naos, in 

 Lanzarote. 



