THE AGULHAS GUBBENT. 
119 
current, the breadth of which was found to be about 
250 miles, and the temperature of the surrounding 
sea was influenced to a depth of at least 400 fathoms. 
It was intended to have made a close examination 
of this enormous body of heated water, which is de- 
rived from similar sources as the Gulf Stream of the 
Atlantic, and exercises such great influence on the 
climate of the Cape and its adjacent seas. 
The heated water of the Indian Ocean, forced to 
the westward by the north-east monsoon and south- 
east trade-winds, has only one outlet, the sea south 
of the Cape. On arriving there, it is met, and 
stopped, by the cold Atlantic easterly drift current, 
produced by the continuous westerly winds of the 
higher latitudes, which is sufficiently powerful to turn 
it aside and absorb it. It is then driven to the south- 
east and eastward, the two bodies of water intermixing. 
This drift also prevents any branch of the warm 
current passing to the northward round the Cape. 
The strong winds now met with prevented a 
closer examination, but from the observations made 
it appears that the water in Table Bay, derived from 
the South Atlantic, is usually 10° colder than that in 
Simon’s Bay, 30 miles to the southward, which is 
derived from the Indian Ocean. But on the approach 
of a north-west wind the Atlantic water drives the 
Indian water out of Simon’s Bay, and occupies its 
place. Thus the water of the bay is liable to sudden 
changes of temperature to the extent of 10° or 12°. 
