CURRENTS AND WHALING. 521 



during the summer months, and as late as October. These islands, it 

 will be well to remark here, lie in the route of the Great North Polar 

 Stream, and form an obstruction to its passage; consequently the food 

 is arrested in its progress and is accumulated here. 



The next ground visited is off Cape Blanco and the Cape de 

 Verdes, and it is also searched by the outward-bound ships of the 

 Pacific fleet. 



The whalers of the Atlantic next pass to the north coast of Brazil, 

 in the months of October, November, and December, and thence to 

 the Brazil Bank, and off the mouths of the Rio de la Plata, where 

 they fish in January and February ; after this they seek St. Helena 

 and the Carrol Ground, which lies from fifty to two hundred miles 

 southeast of that island, towards the Cape of Good Hope. On the 

 latter ground they remain during the months of March, April, and 

 May ; and thence they pass to the westward, along the South Ame- 

 rican coast, to the eastward of the Windward Islands ; thence to the 

 Bahama Banks, Cape Hatteras, and along the coast of the United 

 States, home. 



The smaller class of whalers seldom extend their cruising to the 

 south of the line ; but after they have visited the first two whaling- 

 grounds, they usually pass to the westward, towards the islands of 

 Fernando de Noronha, and thence along the South American coast, 

 till they reach the Windward Islands. They frequent the Caribbean 

 Sea in the months of January and February, and farther to the west- 

 ward, off the peninsula of Yucatan, and Cuba, in April ; after which 

 time they proceed through the Gulf of Mexico, to cruise off the 

 Bahama Banks, and Cape Hatteras, in May. Thence they pass 

 northward, on either side of the Gulf Stream, to the eastern side of 

 the Grand Banks. 



In the Indian Ocean, the south part of Madagascar, off Point Dau- 

 phin, is visited in March and April ; in May, June, and July, the 

 ground off the southwest cape of Madagascar, in the Mozambique 

 Channel, and upon both sides of that channel. The whalers usually 

 recruit in St. Augustine's Bay, where supplies are to be had in 

 abundance, and both wood and water are easily procured. After this 

 they usually spend some time off Cape Corrientes, with the Cape and 

 headlands on either side, and visit the Comoro Isles. Sperm whales 

 are frequently found in numbers among these islands, and ships 

 usually do well in their vicinity. The African coast, from Mozam- 



VOL. V. 131 



