THE mjLF-STBEAir. 
17 
rated before tbey reach the torrid zone. More to the north, 
rn 28 and 35 degrees, between the parallels of Tenerifle and 
Ceuta, in 46 and 48 degrees of longitude, no constant mo- 
tion is observed: there, a zone of 140 leagues in breadth 
separates the equinoctial current (the tendency of w hich is 
towards the west) from that great mass of water which runs 
eastward, and is distinguished for its extraordinary high 
temperature. To this mass of waters, known by the name 
0 the Gulf-stream,* the attention of naturalists was di- 
rected in 1776 by the curious observations of Franklin and 
Charles Blagd.cn. 
lhe equinoctial current drives the waters of the Atlantic 
towards the coasts inhabited by the Mosquito Indians, and 
towards the sbores of Honduras. ‘The New Continent, streteb- 
oig from south to north, forms a sort of dyke to this cur- 
rent. . The waters are carried at first north-west, and pas- 
sing mto the Gulf of Mexico through the strait formed by 
( a P® Catoehe and Capo St. Antonio, follow the bendings of 
1 ? ?^ ex tcan coast, from Vera Cruz to the mouth of the ltio 
del Norte, and thence to the mouths of the Mississippi, and 
he shoals west of the southern extremity of Florida. Hav- 
ing made this vast circuit west, north, east, and south, the 
current takes a new direction northward, and throws itself 
with impetuosity into the Gulf of Florida, At the end of 
the Gulf of Florida, in the parallel of Cape Camiaveral, 
the Gulf-stream, or current of Florida, runs north-east. 
Its rapidity resembles that of a torrent, and is sometimes 
bye miles au hour. The pilot may judge, with some cer- 
tainty, of the proximity of his approach to New Fork, Phi- 
ladelphia, or Charlestown when he reaches the edge of the 
stream; for the elevated temperature of the waters, tlieir 
saltness, indigo-blue colour, and the shoals of seaweed which 
-over their surface, as well as the heat of the surrounding 
atmosphere, all indicate the Gulf-stream. Its rapidity di- 
minishes towards the north, at the same time that its breadth 
increases and the waters become cool. Between Oayo Bis- 
cam° and the hank of Bahama the breadth is only 15 leagues, 
" bust in the latitude of 28J- degrees, it is 17, and in the 
parallel of Charlestown, opposite Cape Henlopen, from 40 
Sir I* rands Drake observed this extraordinary movement of the 
wafers, but he was unacquainted with their high temperature. 
VOL. I. f. 
