164 On the Gulf Stream and Currents of the Sea. 



Jonathan Williams afterwards, in speaking of the importance 

 which the discovery of these warm and cold currents would prove 

 to navigation, pertinently asked the question, "If these stripes 

 of water had been distinguished by the colors of red, white and 

 blue, could they be more distinctly discoverable than they are by 

 the constant use of the thermometer?" And he might have 

 added, could they have marked the position of the ship more 

 clearly ? 



The manner in which the Florida Straits open out into the 

 Atlantic, inclining to the westward of north — the contour of the 

 adjacent coast, the deep indent in the shore here, between St. 

 Augustine and Savannah — all seem to indicate a close pressure of 

 the Gulf Stream, and its counter current upon this part of the 

 coast.* If so, the course of the Gulf Stream as it disembogues 

 in the Atlantic, must be a little to the west, instead of a little to 

 the east of north, as our charts represent it. My own information, 

 derived from the observations of an intelligent brother officer, 

 goes to confirm this opinion ; should it be proved correct, it will 

 explain the anomaly often remarked upon by navigators with 

 regard to a stronger current in the Gulf Stream off Cape Hatte- 

 ras than farther south ; for then this circumstance may be ac- 

 counted for by the chart course leading them on the outer edge 

 of the Gulf Stream until it reaches the Carolina capes, where 

 they again get into the strength of it. 



The Gulf Stream, as it issues from the Straits of Florida, is 

 of a dark indigo blue ; the line of junction between it and the 

 green waters of the Atlantic, is plainly seen for hundreds of 

 miles. Though this line is finally lost to the eye as the stream 

 goes north, it is preserved to the thermometer several thousand 

 miles ; yet to this day, the limits of the Gulf Stream, even in 

 the most frequented parts of the ocean, though so plainly marked, 

 are bin vaguely described on the charts. Thousands of vessels 

 cross it every year ; many of them make their observations upon 

 it, and many more, if invited, would do the same. But no one 

 has invited cooperation, consequently there is no system, and 

 each one who observes, observes only for himself; and when he 



* This opinion is still further confirmed hy Mr. Hodgson in his paper upon the 

 megatheroidal fossils of the coast of Georgia, in which he states that the islands 

 on that coast bear marks of abrasion from the sea. 



