APPENDIX 



467 



from off the Nova Scotian coast due north of the group (one) ; from 

 between the Azores and the Great Bank of Newfoundland (three) ; from 

 the Eastern Atlantic opposite the Bay of Biscay in about longitude 18° 

 W. (two) ; from the Eastern Atlantic in the latitude of the Canary 

 Islands, but about 800 miles further west (one) ; from mid- Atlantic 

 between the parallels of 20°-23° N. and the meridians of 40°-50 / W., 

 within the northern border of the North Equatorial Current (three) ; 

 from Florida coasts and from Cuban seas (three); from off the 

 continental coasts to the westward in the region of Cape Hatteras 

 (fifteen); and from a number of directions all around the group 

 in the case of bottles dropped overboard in the vicinity. The possibi- 

 lities of Bermuda as a gathering-place for drift are great when we 

 regard the area of the region indicated by the starting-places of the 

 bottles that have been thrown up on its shores. Such a region 

 would comprise the breadth of the North Atlantic from coast to 

 coast between the 20th and 50th parallels of latitude. Although 

 the possible starting-place might lie anywhere at the borders of this 

 region, the point of approach would be nearly always from the west, 

 the range varying usually between north-west and south-west. 



This brings one to remark that the Bermudas occupy a singular 

 position with regard to the two principal currents that could supply 

 them with drift — the Gulf Stream from the New World and the North 

 Equatorial Current from the old World. It receives what is played 

 off from the borders of one current and what is brought to it by a 

 connecting stream from the other. 



As regards the Gulf Stream, it receives the " tailings " of the current 

 as it proceeds northward to Cape Hatteras and is gradually deflected 

 eastward towards Europe. This is well shown when we compare 

 the daily rates of bottle-drift reaching Bermuda from the Cape 

 Hatteras region with those for bottles reaching Europe from the same 

 locality. Thrown overboard within a radius of 250 or 300 miles 

 from Cape Hatteras, which would include the main stream of the 

 current, bottles are carried to Europe, a passage of over 3000 miles, 

 at an average rate of eight to nine miles a day, whilst the passage 

 of 500 or 600 miles to Bermuda is accomplished at an average rate 

 of rather over five miles a day. The American charts supply data 

 for fifteen bottles that reached Bermuda from the Hatteras region. 

 The quickest minimum rate of 5-4 miles a day was attained in two 

 cases, whilst the three bottles next in speed gave rates of 5-3, 5-3, 

 and 5-1 miles. The consistency in the five fastest rates enable one to 

 largely eliminate the effects of delay in the recovery of the bottles. 

 The contrast between the slow drifting rate to Bermuda and the fast 

 drifting rate to Europe is well illustrated by a set of five bottles that 

 were thrown over together from the S.S. Cherokee about a hundred 

 miles north of Cape Hatteras, the particulars of which are given 

 in Chapter III. Two bottles recovered on the Bermudas gave 

 minimum daily rates of 3-1 and five miles, whilst those picked up on 

 the Scottish coast, on the Shetlands, and near the North Cape of 

 Norway, gave minimum rates of 7-8, 6-9, and 10-2 miles respectively. 

 The playing off of drift from the outer border of the Gulf Stream 

 towards the Bermudas is probably continued as the current heads 



