OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS OF CURRENT ACTION. 409 



deflections to the right, all of which occur in the right-hand half of 

 Onslow and Long bays. The dominant movement along the coast, how- 

 ever, from the indications of overlap, offset, and stream deflection, is from 

 right to left, which accords with Mr Abbe's theory of backset eddies. 



HOOKED SPIT OF LOOKOUT. 



Cape Lookout is characterized by a spit projecting from the point of 

 the cusi) which has a recurving hook on its left side. This has been 

 shown in the type drawing (figure 4). The curve of the right side of the 

 spit is continuous with the curve of the right shore bar, with an offset 

 from the right near the base of the hooked s])it. On the opposite side of 

 the spit the minute offsets are also from the right to the left. The offsets 

 therefore indicate currents flowing in opposite directions upon the two 

 sides of the spit, both moving from the right to the left. The form of the 

 recurved hook is evidence for a current moving from the sea toward the 

 land at this point on the left-hand side of the cusp, because for its exten- 

 sion material must be carried toward the point of the hook from some 

 other locality, and since the hook curves in toward the land and has a 

 smooth contour on the outside and an irregular one on the inside, trans- 

 portation is inferred along the graded and not the ungraded path. The 

 form of the Lookout recurved spit indicates a current from the land 

 toward the sea on the right and one from the sea toward the land on the 

 left of the cusp. 



SHOALS OFF THE THREE CAPES. 



Offshore from the Carolina cusps are shifting shoals which are danger- 

 ous to the mariner, and therefore are charted in detail by the Coast 

 Survey. From the backset eddy theory one would expect shoals between 

 currents moving out of gear, as any two adjacent backset eddies must 

 necessarily revolve. This flow of water in opposite directions is indicated 

 b}^ the form of the shoals as given upon the charts. On the right side the 

 spurs from the shoals point prevailingly seaward, while on the left they 

 point landward, showing a systematically sym^Dathetic accordance with 

 the offsets on land. This is seen upon the charts of all three capes : 

 Hatteras, Lookout, and Fear (C. S., 145, 147, 424). The shifting of these 

 shoals is a well known fact, which is one of the reasons why this region 

 off Hatteras is the one where more vessels have been lost than any other 

 along our coast. This is shown by the records of the Hydrographic 

 Office.^ 



THEORY CONFRONTED WITH FACT. 



The above brief review of the facts of the Carolina coast as shown 

 upon our maps is strongly indicative of an arrangement of alongshore 



*See Pilot Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean. 



