460 
CURRENTS AND WHALING. 
at least as Cape Hatteras. It is consequently of that character which 
is generally known as polar. 
One of the strongest facts in support of the extension of this stream 
to the farthest northern point we have named, lies in the transporta¬ 
tion southward of vast masses of ice along the coast of Labrador, 
which are met annually in May, June, and July, off the banks of 
Newfoundland. This is a cause which affects in a most remarkable 
manner the climates of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and causes 
the harbours even of the latter country to remain ice-bound to a late 
period in the year. Nor is its influence believed to be of small amount 
in the climate of our Eastern, or that of the sea-coast of our Northern 
States. 
The phenomena of the icebergs develope another fact in relation to 
this current, namely, that where the influence of the current ceases to 
be felt upon the surface, the body of its waters still continues its course 
southwards beneath the flow of the Gulf Stream, which floats upon it 
precisely as the fresh water of the large rivers of the New World are 
to be seen for leagues from the shore flowing on the salt and denser 
water beneath. The phenomenon to which we have reference is, that 
icebergs near the Grand Banks have frequently been observed moving 
rapidly to the southward and westward, in places where ships expe¬ 
rience a current to the northward and eastward. The icebergs, float¬ 
ing by the laws of specific gravity, with no more than one-tenth of 
their mass above the surface, evidently are carried onward by a stream 
flowing in the former direction, against whose force the action of the 
superficial current on a part of their surface is of no avail, while ships 
are wholly immersed in the latter, and obey its influence. 
Here then we have an instance of two currents flowing one above 
the other, in directions almost opposite to each other. 
The Labrador Stream, besides being overspread by the waters of 
the Gulf, the surface part of it is doubtless deflected from its flow to 
the southward, and forced along the eastern coast till it is obstructed 
very materially in the vicinity of George’s Bank. 
The position and supposed dangers of these banks, and the narrow¬ 
ness of the Labrador Stream in passing them, has prevented navi¬ 
gators from taking the full advantage they might have derived from 
their knowledge of its existence. Of the loss of time frequently grow¬ 
ing out of this difficulty, I had myself an instance in a voyage from 
Europe in the winter of 1836-37. Captain Hebberd, who commanded 
the vessel in which I was passenger, feared that he might approach 
too near to the shoals of George’s Bank and Nantucket, and therefore, 
when opposed by a westerly wind, made tacks that carried him within 
