§ 32. 



THE GULF-STREAM. 71 



the tropical regions, into the climates of the north. From 

 the mouth of the Red Sea a current about fifty leagues in 

 breadth sets continually towards the south-west ; doubling 

 the Cape of Good Hope, it assumes a north-west direction, 

 and in the parallel of St. Helena, its breadth exceeds 1000 

 miles ; then taking a direction nearly east, it meets in the 

 parallel of 3° north, along the northern coast of Africa, with 

 a stream from the north ; entering the Gulf of Florida, 

 the united currents are reflected and form the Gulf-stream, 

 which, passing along the coast of North America, stretches 

 across the Atlantic to the British Isles. At the parallel of 

 38°, nearly 1000 miles from the Straits of Bahama, the 

 water of the stream is ten degrees warmer than the air. 

 The course of the Gulf-stream is so fixed and regular, that 

 nuts and plants from the West Indies are annually drifted 

 to the western islands of Scotland. The mast of a man- 

 of-war, burnt at Jamaica, was driven ashore several months 

 afterwards on the Hebrides, " after performing a voyage 

 of more than 4000 miles under the direction of a current, 

 which, in the midst of the ocean, maintains its course as 

 steadily as a river upon the land."* The quantity and 

 variety of detritus transported by such currents must 

 be immense, and we therefore need not wonder at fre- 

 quently finding the productions of different climates asso- 

 ciated together in a fossil state. 



32. Icebergs and glaciers. From the consideration 

 of the dynamical powers of water as a fluid, we pass 

 to the examination of its effects when consolidated by con- 

 gelation. The character of the regions of eternal ice in 

 the Arctic circle — the floating islands and mountain ranges 

 composed of rock-ice, which everywhere threaten with 

 impending destruction the intrepid mariners who penetrate 

 the desolate polar seas — the removal and transport of 



* Playfair's Works, edition 1822; vol. i. p. 414. 



