236 



THREE CRUISES OF THE " BLAKE. 



face of the passage, and from the comparatively clean crest of 

 the plateau across which the Atlantic waters are driven into the 

 western Caribbean, that the current is flowing to the westward, 

 and extends to the very bottom of the passage. Our experience 

 in dredofinof between the Windward Islands was similar. We 

 found the floor of the passages generally swept clear of all ani- 

 mal life, while it was only to the leeward of the dividing ridges 



ETSSta 



Fiff. 104. 



and of the islands, where the silt had a chance to accumulate, 

 that marine animals were found in great profusion. 



A similar experience followed us along the course of the Gulf 

 Stream to the north of the Straits of Florida, while dredging 

 across the Blake Plateau, off the coasts of Georgia and the 

 Carolinas, and it was not until we reached the sea slope of the 

 Gulf Stream trough near Cape Hatteras that we again came 

 upon animal life in abundance ; there we found it flourishing 

 in the silt which had been rolled by the Gulf Stream along its 

 bottom throughout its whole course from the Bahamas to Cape 

 Hatteras. 



It was only on the shore edge of the Gulf Stream, or in por- 



