46 Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
branch of the current which flows along the coast of Chili and Peru, under 
the name of Humboldt's Current. This immense body of icy-cold water 
has a great effect on the climate of Patagonia and Chili. Darwin writes 
that * almost every arm of the sea which penetrates to the interior higher 
range, not only in Terra del Fuego, but on the coast for 650 miles north- 
ward, is terminated by tremendous and astonishing glaciers.” 
At Conception, in the latitude of Auckland, this cold current so chills 
- the counter trades from the north-west that the forests are always dripping 
with moisture, and the sky continually cloudy. The effects of this current 
on the climate is felt as far as the Galapagos, which are situated on the 
equator. The temperature of the current round these islands is more than 
ten degrees lower than that of the ocean which hinders the growth of coral 
on the shores of this Archipelago. The average rate of this current is 
twelve miles a day, but in some parts it runs far more rapidly, as off the 
coast of Valparaiso, where it flows twenty-six miles a day. It is of great 
importance to navigation, as vessels can readily go from south to north. 
They make a run from Valparaiso to Callao in nine or ten days, and from 
Callao to Guayaquil in four or five days; but to return from these places 
occupies weeks, and even months. Humboldt’s Current is lost near the 
Galapagos; part of it returns as an inshore current, southward along the 
coast, and a part flows west into the South Equatorial. The latter is the 
current which carried Magellan so rapidly across the Pacific. After crossing 
the Humboldt, he entered a current of warmer water flowing in the same 
direction as Humboldt’s, which is called Mentor’s Drift. This current, on 
reaching the latitude of 20° south, flows west, and is then called the South 
Equatorial. When it approaches the Paumotu Group it divides into two 
streams, one flowing north by the Marquesas and Samoan Islands, north of 
which a branch flows to the Carolines, and the other south of the Cook and 
Tongan Groups, until it meets a part of the northern branch west of the 
Fijis, on the meridian of 179° E. Between these two streams are included 
the six principal groups of islands with which New Zealand trades: these 
are, the Paumotu in the east, the Fijis in the west, and between these lie the 
Society, the Samoan, the Tongan and Cook Islands. For the sake of 
distinction I will call this division Polynesia, which extends from 128° to 
178° west longitude, and lies between the parallels of 8° and 28° south 
latitude, and is enclosed by the northern and southern branches of the 
South Equatorial current. East of the Fijis the current divides again— 
one branch flowing north-west, called Rossell’s Drift, and the other south- 
east towards the shores of Australia. Near Tasmania this warm stream 
comes in contact with an icy current from the Antarctic, and then is forced 
to the east, south of New Zealand, and across the Pacific as the south 
