30 THE OCEAN WORLD. 
dangerous position. A single wave, which swept the deck, tore out 
the masts, stopped the engines, and washed overboard 129 persons, 
officers and soldiers. From that moment the unfortunate steamer 
floated upon the waters, a waif abandoned to the fury of the wind. 
The day after the disaster the Sax Francisco was seen in this desperate 
situation by a ship, which reached New York, although unable to assist 
her. Another ship met her some days after, but, like the other, 
could render no assistance. When the report reached New York, 
two steamers were despatched to her assistance; but in what direc- 
tion were they to go? what part of the ocean were they to explore ? 
The authorities at the Washington Observatory were appealed to. 
Having consulted his charts as to the direction and limits of the Gulf 
Stream at that period of the year, Dr. Maury traced on a chart the 
spot to which the disabled steamer was likely to be driven by the 
current, and the course to be taken by the vessels sent to her 
assistance. The crew and passengers of the Sanz francisco were 
saved before their arrival. Three ships, which had seen their 
distressing situation, had been able to reach them, and the steamers 
sent to their assistance only arrived to witness the safety of the 
passengers and crew. But the point where the steamer foundered 
shortly after they were transferred to the rescuing ships was precisely 
that indicated by Dr. Maury. If the ships sent to her assistance had 
reached in time, the triumph of SclENcE would have been complete. 
The equinoctial currents of the Pacific are very imperfectly known. 
It is believed, however, that they traverse the great ocean in its 
whole length, and bifurcate opposite the Asiatic coast, where the 
weakest branch bends northward until it encounters the polar current 
from Behring’s Straits, when it returns along the Mexican coast. The 
larger branch inclines towards the south, passing round Australia, 
where it is met by one or many counter currents coming from the 
Indian Ocean—of the complicated and dangerous nature of which 
both Cook and La Peyrouse speak. 
The cold waters from the Antarctic Pole are carried towards the 
Equator by three great oceanic rivers. The first bifurcates in 45° ; ° 
one portion goes round Cape Horn; the other—Humboldt’s current 
—ascends the Chilian and Peruvian coasts up to the Equator, ame- 
liorating the rainless climate as it goes, and making it delightful. A 
second great current takes the direction of the African coast, and is 
divided at the Cape, ascending both the east and west coasts of 
Africa. On either side of the warm current which escapes from the 
intertropical parts of the Indian Ocean, but especially along the 
Australian coast, a polar current wends its way from the Antarctic 
