142 



THE CURRENT. 



1835, his ship, when south of Zanzibar, was 

 carried 50 miles in 15 hours, and was obliged to 

 double the northern cape. The same happened 

 to Captain Guillain in August 1846, when he 

 lost five days. This resulted from the superior 

 force of the S.W. monsoon, which often drives 

 vessels to the north 30 to 40 miles during the 

 day and night. Lieut. Christopher (Journal, 

 Jan. 5, 1843) reported it to be variable and vio- 

 lent, especially close in shore, and observed that 

 it frequently trends against the wind. It is 

 usually made to run to the S.W. between De- 

 cember and April, at the rate of 1*3 miles per 

 hour, from Ra'as Hafun to Ra'as Aswad, and 

 two to three miles per hour between Capes 

 Aswad and Delgado. Shipmasters at Zanzibar 

 have assured me that when this coastal current 

 covers three knots an hour there is a strong 

 backwater or counter-flow, which, like the 

 Gulf-stream, trends to the north, and against 

 which, with light winds, native vessels cannot 

 make way. This counter-current has extensive 

 limits ; usually it is considered strongest between 

 Mafiyah and Pomba. The ship St Abbs, con- 

 cerning which so much has been said and writ- 

 ten of late years, was wrecked in 1855 off St 

 Juan de Nova of the Comoro group (S. lat. 



