Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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This Distance Is Double The Length Of The Course Of The
River Amazon, From Jaen Or The Straits Of Manseriche To Grand Para.
On The Meridian Of The Islands Of Corvo And Flores, The Most
Western Of The Group Of The Azores, The Breadth Of The Current Is
160 Leagues.
When vessels, on their return from South America to
Europe, endeavour to make these two islands to rectify their
longitude, they are always sensible of the motion of the waters to
south-east.
At the 33rd degree of latitude the equinoctial current
of the tropics is in the near vicinity of the Gulf-stream. In this
part of the ocean, we may in a single day pass from waters that
flow towards the west, into those which run to the south-east or
east-south-east.
From the Azores, the current of Florida turns towards the straits
of Gibraltar, the isle of Madeira, and the group of the Canary
Islands. The opening of the Pillars of Hercules has no doubt
accelerated the motion of the waters towards the east. We may in
this point of view assert, that the strait, by which the
Mediterranean communicates with the Atlantic, produces its effects
at a great distance; but it is probable also, that, without the
existence of this strait, vessels sailing to Teneriffe would be
driven south-east by a cause which we must seek on the coasts of
the New World. Every motion is the cause of another motion in the
vast basin of the seas as well as in the aerial ocean.
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