14 



iven° r b iati the^ enera ^ characteristics, and, iu general, all the physical 

 wind and Cur- features of the ocean, including its meteorology, the limits 



rent Charts. " " e "' ' 



of icebergs, the feeding ground of whales, and all facts of 

 interest or value 10 the maritime community." (Senate Re- 

 port No. 1285, 49th Coug., 1st sess., pp. 26 and 27.) 



These proposed charts were termed " Wind and Current 

 Charts," under which general name were included Track 

 Charts, Trade- Wind Charts, Pilot Charts, Whale Charts, 

 Thermal Charts, and Storm and Eain Charts. 



To collect the information necessary for such charts re- 

 quired the constaut labor of a large part of the force of the 

 Depot. Merchantmen were slow at first to accede to the 

 request of the Superintendent to forward their logs for in- 

 spection, but gradually they began to comprehend the efforts 

 being made in their behalf, and readily furnished all the in- 

 formation in their power. 

 First issue of The close of 1847 found three of the " Track Charts " ready 



wind and Cur- for publication, and early in the following year they were 

 issued to the maritime world. Copies of these charts were 

 distributed gratuitously to the captains of merchant ves- 

 sels who had contributed their logs. The charts were of the 

 .North Atlantic Ocean, and showed the tracks of a great 

 number of vessels, the month in which each passage was 

 made, the character of the weather, and the prevailing 

 winds aud currents encountered by each vessel. 



In 1849 the series was completed, consisting of eight 

 charts covering the whole of the North Atlantic and a por- 

 tion of the South Atlantic Ocean. 

 collection of in- The next to be issued, of the general series of Wind and 



wSieChMti" Current Charts, were the "Whale Charts." These were 

 designed " to show at a glance where this animal has been 

 most hunted ; where, in what years, and in what months, 

 it has been most frequently found; whether in shoals or as 

 stragglers, and whether sperm or right." The charts divided 

 the parts of the oceans frequented by whales into districts, 

 of 5 degrees of latitude by 5 degrees of longitude in size 

 and showed the number of days in each month of the year 

 that whalers had spent in each district, as well as the num- 

 ber and species of whales that had been seen. (Maury's 

 Sailing Directions, 7th ed., 1855, p. 252.) 



First issue o i the Early in 1851 the Whale Charts were ready for issue, and 

 were soon after sent out to whalers, while at the same time 

 a notice was published in the newspapers of the day an- 

 nouncing their object. 



