616 DISCOLOURED WATER. 



gays : — " I should question with all deference, whether the depth of water 

 in such places was tried to a sufficient degree of certainty. On our 

 passage from the West Indies to Europe in July, 1837, at about 4 p.m. 

 of the 7th, a streak was observed on the surface of the sea, exactly in the 

 same manner as Captain Kotzebue describes, and at the moment we 

 passed over it the lead was hove in a very proper manner without finding 

 bottom ; but, having lowered the boat, soundings were found to exist, 

 although in more than 30 fathoms of water. The latitude was 21° 12' N., 

 long. 58° 12' W." Lieut. Lee found 2,800 fathoms here. 



Off the coast of Cruayaym, at about 7 a.m., September 17th, 1835, on the 

 track of the Echo from Antigua towards Surinam, there appeared la 

 every direction, upon the surface of the ocean, several large spots of dis- 

 coloured water, more or less thickly mingled as it seemed with mud. It 

 was a fine morning ; the sun rose in all its splendour, and not a single 

 <5loud was there to throw its shade upon the water, which was uncom- 

 monly smooth, although the ship ran 6 miles an hour ; besides the vyater 

 in some of the spots was so thick as to make the blue waves curl against 

 their edges. " Having," says M. Grcevelink, " the watch at the time, I 

 gave warning of this strange occurrence to our captain (W. H. van Voss), 

 who came on deck and ordered me to keep — not to alter — our course, by 

 which we passed through one of those spots, yet v^e did not heave the 

 lead, as it was the first day in which we gained a breeze after fourteen 

 days struggling with horrible calm and rainy weather, and two-thirds of 

 our crew confined to their hammocks. While in the midst of these spots, 

 I observed the latitude to be IP 47' N., and the longitude 53° 47' W. In 

 about three-quarters of an hour we were clear of them, and the sea 

 resumed its former clearness. The current. Equatorial, for several days 

 remained northerly, yet was not very strong." Lieut. Lee found no 

 bottom here at 2,780 fathoms. 



" That we had not been in soundings, we felt nearly convinced by 

 existing circumstances ; yet how came this muddy water here ? The 

 common discoloured water of Barbados it was not, as the latter is a 

 large extent of water, of a different but somewhat lighter hue than that of 

 the ocean ; at least so far as we have seen it. As for my humble opinion, 

 I seek for a cause of this appearance only in the force with which the 

 Marauon rushes downward, but without sufficient power to strengthen the 

 Equatorial Current. This may seem contradictory, but I think it may 

 be found reconcileable in the manner following : — 



" This river impetuously pours forth its waters in a mass over a bed of 

 some declivity, which steepens more and more towards its issue till it 

 becomes a precipice, so as to form a cataract, whereby a part of «t9 

 stream may dive beneath the stratum of undulations of the ocean, and 

 afterward rise to the surface by its lesser specific gravity ; where, driven 

 still farther off by the northerly current, it may easily remain for some 

 <days in the above-mentioned manner, especially in those months wherein 

 continual calms prevail, and the water is rarely disturbed by the wind." 

 This may be the case, but it may also be attributed to a volcanic origin. 



The commander of H.M. (Netherlands) brig Koerier informed Captaia 

 Stort, that in the month of May, 1854, when bptvocn lat. 16° and 17° N., 



