45 



part of the ocean : and offer some observations, 

 which may prove interesting to navigators. 

 Whatever relates to the variations of the tem- 

 perature of the air, and that of the sea, the hy- 

 grometrical state of the atmosphere, the blue 

 colour of the sky, the inclination and intensity 

 of the magnetic focus, will be found collected 

 in my journal at the end of the third chapter, 

 where it will be seen, from the detail and num- 

 ber of experiments, that we endeavoured to make 

 the best use possible of the instruments with 

 which we were furnished. It were to be wished, 

 that the same observations could be repeated in 

 the African and Asiatic seas, to indicate exactly 

 the constitution of the atmosphere which covers 

 the great basin of the waters. 



The 9th of June, latitude 39° 50', and longi- 

 tude 16° 10' west of the meridian of the observ- 

 atory of Paris, we began to feel the effects of 

 the great current, which from the Azores directs 

 itself towards the Straits of Gibraltar, and the 

 Canary Islands. Comparing the place of our 

 ship deduced from Berthoud's time-keeper with 

 the pilot's reckoning, I was able to discover the 

 smallest variations in the direction and velocity 

 fo the currents. From 37° to 30° of latitude, 

 the vessel was sometimes carried in twenty- four 

 hours, from eighteen to twenty-six miles to the 

 east. The direction of the current was at first 

 E by S, but nearer the Straits it became due 



