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South, and in the night or niornu:ig a refrcfliing gentle 

 land whid from the north. The Iky in this country is re- 

 niarkably ferene, efpecially when the winds are northerly. 

 A thought juil (hikes me, that, according to the forego- 

 ing fimilarities, our coaft ihould refemble that of Perfia 

 from the river Indus to tiie gulph of Ormus, but as there 

 is no MifTifippi on that coaft, w^e may compare the mouti 



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of that river with thofe of the Ganges, and the country 

 about Bengal, to that of Nev/-Orleans. The Spanirfi 

 main, as we call it, fnall be Arabia, and Spirito Sandto, in 

 Eaft-Florida, may reprefent Madrafs. However, to re- 

 turn to what we know of our own fituation. The gulph 

 of Mexico may be confidcred as one great whirlpool. 

 The general courfe of the waters in the great oceans, as 

 well as the current of the air within and near the torrid 

 zone, being from eaft to well; the force of the atlantic 



comes upon the Weft-India Iflands, and the lengths of 

 thefe iflands are in that diredion. When the waters get 

 into tlie great Gulph, they are obflru<Sed every where, 

 and as it were turned round by the land, the greateft ve- 

 locity of this great body of water will be towards the E- 

 quator, and it mud get out where it meets wdth the leaft 

 refiflance, that is on the fide towards the Pole, and there 

 it forms the ftrong current or paflage, called the Gulph of 

 Florida. The natural courfe therefore of the waters on 



our coaft, ftiould be from Weft to Eaft; but here there 

 arc frequent currents which are very irregular, depending 

 moft probably on the winds, but feldom on that which 

 blows on the fpot. By the general law of the tides, there 

 ftiould be flood for one i\x hours, and ebb for the fix fol- 

 lowing nearly, but here an ebb-tide will continue for eigh- 

 teen or twenty hours, and the flood only four or fix, ct 

 vice verfa, A foutherly wind always rifes and keeps up 

 the waters in our bays, and the northerly winds almoft 

 empty them, yet it muft be allowed that thefe ebbs and 

 floods are not equable during this continuance, for upon 

 accurate obfervation there is a tendency to two ebbs and 



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