HOW THE WINDS BLOW. 
Ill 
known as the doldrums (meaning dull, inactive); it is 
about 10° to 12° in width. Going north 5° or 6°, we 
observe a northeast wind, which increases in strength 
as we continue our course for a distance of 10° or 
12°. This wind blows continuously day and night on 
the sea. On the land it is much interrupted during 
the night by contrary breezes. 
Our course is still northward, and the northeast 
winds continue, but soon grow less in force, until 
they leave us in a calm at latitude 30°, or, if it is 
summer, 35°. The constancy of these winds greatly 
promoted commerce in the days when it was mostly 
carried on in sailing-vessels, and for this reason they 
have received the name Trade-winds. 
In the southern hemisphere the trade-wind belt 
lies a few degrees nearer the equator. The winds 
blow from the southeast, and with even more regu¬ 
larity than in the northern hemisphere, as there is less 
land surface to interfere with them. 
North of the trades is a belt of calms and slight 
variable winds, which has received the singular name 
Horse Latitudes. It includes the region of the Sar¬ 
gasso Sea, lying between Africa and the United States. 
The old skippers were often becalmed in this latitude. 
Might they have given it the name from the fact that 
the wind frequently “played horse” with them ? The 
winds in this belt are largely controlled by storms. 
North of the horse latitudes we encounter pre¬ 
vailing west or southwest winds. These are not so 
regular as the trade-winds, yet they are important. 
Although these are the prevailing winds, there are 
