ii8 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 315 



interest, and a study of her track and the tracks of other derelicts 

 plotted on the accompanying chart cannot fail to be valuable to every 

 navigator of the North Atlantic, as illustrating the general course 

 followed by these dangerous obstructions to navigation, and the ir- 

 regularities to which this general course is subject. The fact may 

 well be noted here that the tracks and latest reported positions of 

 derelicts and wreckage on the high seas are shown on no other 

 chart but the " Pilot Chart," and the danger to navigation caused 

 by them is sufficiently indicated by the mere statement that the 

 number recorded each month in the North Atlantic alone varies 

 from twenty-five to as many as forty-five, every great oceam storm 

 largely increasing the number. Therefore it is very desirable that 

 masters of vessels should supply the Hydrographic Office with ex- 



about by the varying winds, a constant menace to navigation along 

 the greatest highway of ocean commerce in the world. During 

 these six months alone she was reported by 36 vessels, three of 

 which sighted her in a single day. In her cruise of ten months and 

 ten days she traversed a distance of more than 5,000 miles, was 

 reported 45 times, and how many more vessels passed dangerously 

 near her at night and in thick weather it is impossible to even esti- 

 mate. 



The direction and force of the winds that helped to determine 

 her track during this long voyage, as indicated by reports from 

 hundreds of vessels in her vicinity at various times, were as follows : 

 For a week after being abandoned, and in fact throughout March, 

 with the exception of four days, she experienced north-westerly 



act detailed descriptions of all such derelicts sighted, in order to 

 make it possible to identify them with others previously reported. 



The following brief summary of the leading features in the cruise 

 of the " White " will be found of interest : She was a three-masted 

 schooner, belonging to Mr. A. F. Ames of Rockland, Me., lumber- 

 laden, and after being abandoned started off to the- southward 

 under the influence of the inshore current and the north-west gale, 

 with masts and portions of her sails standing, and ensign set with 

 union down. Upon reaching the Gulf Stream, she turned away to 

 the eastward, and commenced her- long cruise toward Europe, 

 directly in the track of the thousands of vessels engaged in trans- 

 atlantic commerce, drifting blindly about at the mercy of wind 

 and current. The most remarkable feature is the zigzag track she 

 followed in mid-ocean, between latitude 44" and 51° north, longi- 

 tude 33° and 44' west, from the beginning of May till the end of 

 October. Previous to this time she followed a course about east- 

 north-east at an average rate of about 32 miles a day, and subse- 

 quently she moved east and north-east 1,260 in 84 days, an average 

 of 15 miles a day ; but during this long interval of six months she 

 remained within this comparatively small area, drifted back and 

 forth by the Gulf Stream and the Labrador current, and tossed 



winds of varying force. Westerly winds continued during the first 

 nine days of April, followed by five days of variable. From April 

 15 to 18 she encountered a strong westerly gale, followed by south- 

 erly winds, which prevailed the remainder of the month. Through- 

 out May the winds were very variable, never more than two days 

 in succession from the same direction. Moderate northerly gales 

 were experienced on the 6th and 20th, and a fresh gale from the 

 south-east on the 23d. Variable breezes continued throughout 

 June, with westerly gales on the 24th and 30th. July opened with 

 a. moderate gale from the west, followed by south-westerly winds 

 for a fortnight, hauling to west and north-west. Similar weather 

 prevailed during August, with the exception of moderate gales from 

 the eastward on the 6th, and from the westward on the l6th, 17th, 

 and 22d. Generally westerly winds prevailed from Sept. I to 19, 

 and easterly during the remainder of the month. During Novem- 

 ber the winds were westerly throughout, including several strong 

 gales. Variable breezes .were encountered during the first half of 

 December, but during the remainder of the month the prevalent 

 directions from south to west, with strong westerly gales from the 

 19th to the 25th. South-westerly winds prevailed from Jan. i up 

 to the time she went ashore on Haskeir Island. 



