THE BERMUDA ISLANDS, 580 



vould come up, and at last make a course to the westward, ready to take 

 advantage of the East wind at the setting in of the next revolving gale. 



A vessel at New York, and bound to Bermuda, at the time when a re- 

 volving gale is passing along the North American coast, should not wait in 

 port for the westerly wind, but sail as soon as the first portion of the gale 

 has passed by, and the N.E. wind is veering towards the North; provided 

 it should not blow too hard. For the North wind will veer to thewestward, 

 and become every hour fairer for the voyage to Bermuda. 



A great number of gales pass along the coasts of North America, follow- 

 ing nearly similar tracks, and in the winter season make the voyage between 

 Bermuda and Halifax very boisterous. These gales, by revolving as ex- 

 tended whirlwinds, give a northerly wind along the shore of the American 

 continent, and a soidherly wind on the whirlwind's opposite side, far out 

 in the Atlantic. In sailing from Halifax to Bermuda, it is desirable for 

 this reason to keep to the westward, as affording a better chance of having 

 a wind blowing at North, instead of one at South ; as well as because the 

 current of the Gulf Stream sets to the eastward. 



When vessels from Barbados, or the neighbouring West India Islands, 

 sail to Bermuda on a direct course, they sometimes fall to the eastward of 

 it, and find it very difficult to make Bermuda when westerly winds prevail. 

 They should therefore take advantage of the Trade Wind to make the 

 meridian of 68° or 70° of West longitude, before they leave the parallel of 

 lat. 25° N. 



On a ship leaving England for Bermuda, instead of steering a direct 

 course for the destined port, or following the usual practice of seeking for 

 the Trade Wind, it may be found a better course, on the setting in of an 

 easterly wind, to steer West, and if this wind should veer by the South 

 towards the West, to continue on the port tack until, by changing, the 

 ship could lie in its course. If the wind should continue to veer to North, 

 and as it does sometimes even to the eastward of North, a ship upon tJae 

 starboard tack might be allowed to come up with her head to the west- 

 ward of her direct course. On both tacks she would have sailed on curved 

 lines, the object of which would be to carry her to the westward against 

 the prevailing wind and currents. There is reason for believing that many 

 of the revolving winds of the winter season originate within the Tropics : 

 and that ships seeking for the steady Trade Winds, even farther South 

 than the Tropic, at that period of the year, will frequently be disappointed. 

 How near to the Equator the revolving winds originate in the winter 

 se'ason, is an important point not yet sufficiently observed. The quickest 

 voyage from England to Bermuda, therefore, may perhaps be made by 

 sailing on a course composed of many curved lines, which cannot be pre- 

 viously laid down, but which must be determined by the winds met with 

 on the voyage. This principle of taking advantage of changes of revolving 

 winds, by sailing on curved lines, is applicable to high latitudes in both 

 hemispheres, when ships are sailing westerly. 



