54 



ocean, we may in a single day pass from waters 

 that flow towards the west, into those which run 

 to the south-east or east-south-east. 



From the Azores, the current of Florida turns 

 towards the straits of Gibraltar, the Isle of Ma- 

 deira, and the group of the Canary Islands. The 

 opening of the Pillars of Hercules has no doubt 

 accelerated the motion of the waters towards the 

 east. We may in this point of view assert, that 

 the strait, by which the Mediterranean commu- 

 nicates with the Atlantic, produces it's effects at 

 a great distance ; but it is probable also, that, 

 without the existence of this strait, the vessels 

 which sail to TenerifF would be driven to the 

 south-east by a cause, which we must seek on 

 the coasts of the New World. Every motion is 

 the cause of another motion in the vast basin of 

 the seas as well as in the aerial ocean. Pursuing 

 the currents to their most distant sources, and 

 reflecting on their variable celerity, sometimes 

 decreasing as between the Gulf of Florida and 

 the bank of Newfoundland ; at other times aug- 

 menting, as in the neighbourhood of the Straits 

 of Gibraltar, and near the Canary Islands, we 

 cannot doubt but the same cause which drives 

 the waters to make the circuitous sweep of the 

 Gulf of Mexico, agitates them also near the Isle 

 of Madeira. 



It is to the south of this island, that we can 

 follow the current, in it's direction to the S. E. 



