prevails to the westward of the Stilly Islands. 191 
terminate in the mere facts of the existence, and force of the 
current. The commander of the West India ship, is said to 
have made many voyages to, and from, that quarter; and his 
narrative shows him to have been an observant man. Yet he 
was ignorant of the existence of such a current, until the case 
occurred, which has been just stated. This then, alone, may 
serve to show, very satisfactorily, that the current does not 
exist in strength, but at certain intervals: and therefore 
operates in a more dangerous, because a treacherous manner. 
Had it constantly prevailed, like that round the Cape of 
Good Hope, &c. it could not have escaped detection ; and, in 
consequence, few, or no evils, would have ensued : but these 
effects being only felt casually, they were considered as mere 
contingencies, arising from wind and weather, as in other 
parts of the sea ; and not as resulting from a fixed cause, 
always operating, although in very different degrees : since 
no person at that time, had collected the different cases, with 
a view to examine, and to compare them. Some indeed, re- 
ferred it to the indraught of the Bristol Channel ; without 
considering, that if such a power existed at all, it was difficult 
to conceive how it could be suspended; and why it should 
not operate at all times. 
Our navigators, in earlier times, appear to have entered the 
British Channel, on a more southerly parallel, than they have 
done in latter times. For, although they might have been 
ignorant of the real cause of the disturbance in their course, 
yet many of them believed that there was an indraught , as 
they called it, into the St. Georges's Channel : so that one 
effect of the current ; that is, the northern set , had not passed 
unobserved, although the cause was not understood : nor, of 
