70 



to the direction which the, waters follow from the 

 Azores to Cape Cantin. We should moreover 

 observe, (and this fact is not uninteresting^ to 

 those who examine the nature of fluids) that in 

 this part of the retrograde current, on a breadth 

 of 120 or 140 leagues, the whole mass of water 

 has not the same rapidity, nor does it follow 

 precisely the same direction. When the sea is 

 perfectly calm, there appears at the surface nar- 

 row stripes, like small rivulets, in which the wa- 

 ters run with a murmur very sensible to the ear 

 of an experienced pilot. The 13th of June, in 

 34° 36' of northern latitude, we found ourselves 

 in the midst of a great number of these beds of 

 currents. We took their direction with the com- 

 pass ; some ran north-east, others east-north- 

 east, though the general movement of the ocean, 

 indicated by comparing the reckoning with the 

 chronometrical longitude, continued to be south- 

 east. It is very common to see a mass of motion- 

 less waters crossed by threads of water, which 

 run in different directions, and we may daily 

 observe the phenomenon on the surface of 

 lakes ; but it is much less frequent to find partial 

 movements, impressed by local causes on small 

 portions of waters in the midst of a sea-river, 

 which occupies an immense space, and which 

 moves, though slowly, in a constant direction. In 

 the conflict of currents, as in the oscillation of 

 the waves, our imagination is struck by those 



