98 



HYDROGRAPHY. 



more lives than in rounding the Cape of Good Hope. If the ther- 

 mometer is used, it will give timely warning, and should claim atten- 

 tion, whatever confidence may be put in the position of the ship. 

 All that is necessary in passing the Cape is to preserve the tempera- 

 ture of the water above 70°, which is the temperature of the cur- 

 rent setting to the southwest, and which will carry a vessel quickly to 

 the west. The water on the Agulhas Bank is always below 70°, or a 

 few degrees below the temperature of the surrounding ocean, and if 

 due attention is paid, the land cannot be reached without noticing it ; 

 no possible danger can occur. When bound into Table Bay, keep 

 within the cold water : the current will carry a vessel to the north- 

 ward along the coast. When up with it, steer for Green Point, and 

 into the bay, where good berths are found to anchor in before Cape 

 Town. The bay is almost an open roadstead, but dangerous only in 

 the event of a northwest storm, in which case the whole anchorage is 

 open to the ocean, when heavy seas roll in with great force. The 

 periods of the year when it is deemed an unsafe anchorage is during 

 the months of April and May. 



CAPE OF GOOD HOPE TO ST. HELENA AND THE UNITED STATES. 



Between the 17th of April and the 9th of June, 1842. 



If vessels do not intend to touch at the Cape of Good Hope, they of 

 course will keep in the warm current until it is passed, and then 

 direct their course towards St. Helena. It is preferable to give the 

 Cape a good berth, by which course the winds will be less variable 

 and the southeast trades be entered sooner, not being affected by the 

 influence of the Cape winds. These may be looked for on the parallel 

 of 30°, in the longitude of 10° east, which meridian will seldom be 

 passed before the trades are entered ; a direct course then may be 

 steered to cross the equator in the longitude of 30° west, thence to 

 strike the Gulf Stream near the 73d meridian west, on the parallel 

 of 30° north. In this route there is almost a certainty of preserving 

 a fair wind the whole distance. The southeast and northeast trades 

 will be more or less fresh, according to the season of the year. They 

 may become light, yet they will be favorable ; in our voyage we 

 passed from the one to the other without an hour's calm, with the aid 

 of a breeze from the south-southwest. If, however, they should, as the 



