CURRENT OBSERVATIONS. 123 



moreover that eastward of the 160th meridian and between the 

 20th and 30th parallels this north-eastward moving stream meets 

 one of its parents, the equatorial stream, and flows to the west- 

 ward. Thus as Mr. Russell truly surmised, these bottles instead 

 of travelling against the current, made a long detour with the 

 current of many hundreds of miles. 



Under normal conditions the east coast current obtains all the 

 year round, but during southerly gales its velocity is considerably 

 checked, if not after a prolonged spell of wind altogether arrested 

 for the time near the coast, and the easterly and north-easterly 

 current will be found further to the northward its strength con- 

 siderably augmented. My charts shew currents setting to the 

 north-eastward between Sydney and Middleton Reef of forty-one 

 miles in the month of May, forty-one miles again in June, thirty- 

 eight and twenty-three miles in October, and many other of less 

 value at all times of the year. Between Middleton Reef and the 

 Fiji Group following the steamer's track the set will be found to 

 trend mainly to the westward, and to the north-westward, when 

 southerly winds have prevailed, and to the southward when the 

 type of weather has been northerly. Between the Horn Islands 

 and the Fiji Group the drift current is usually to the southward 

 or south-westward, but during the monsoon season a strong 

 easterly set may be experienced, and this easterly set may exist 

 as far to the north- east on the steamer's track as seven degrees 

 south latitude. Referring to the chart for January, we see that 

 the only current recorded between the Phoenix and Fiji Groups 

 were to the eastward during this month. Steering to the south- 

 ward at this season, it is well to make a point of sighting the 

 Horn Islands before shaping a course for the Fiji Group, other- 

 wise, during the thick rainy weather which usually prevails during 

 the monsoon season the easterly currents may carry a vessel into 

 danger. From ten degrees south latitude to the equator, still 

 following the "Ash track," the equatorial current will be found 

 setting for the most part to the southward and westward, and 

 increasing in force as the line is approached. Between the 



