The Gulf Stream--Darby's Theory--Its ingenuity--The
Coasts of America--John Cabot, the Venetian--"_Terra
Primum Visa_"--Completion of Cruise--Conclusion.
_Thursday, June 17th._--Have at last got amongst the variable winds, for
we struck a breeze yesterday immediately after exercising, and went
pitching along at the rate of eight knots before dark. Sea quite rough.
This morning calm again. Have touched the edge of the Gulf Stream,
judging from the temperature of the water, and general appearance of the
weather. Darby's theory of this current is so learned and philosophical,
that I may be excused giving place to it here. In his theme, The Earth,
he touches upon this phenomena, and explains it thus: "The earth turns
round upon its axis once in twenty-four hours, and consequently fifteen
degrees of its meridians revolve hourly; therefore, by multiplying the
breadth of any number of degrees of longitude by fifteen, we have the
hourly motion of that part of the earth's surface round the axis; as,
for example, in lat. 45°, a degree of long. is 48-3/4 English miles
wide, within a trifling fraction. From these elements, it results that
particles of matter on lat. 45° on the surface of the earth, revolve
about 630 miles hourly: this is nearly the mean motion, as the maximum
at the equator is a fraction less than 1,040 miles hourly, and
decreasing along the meridians, until it becomes 0 at either pole."
From this hypothesis he reasons that atmospheric and oceanic masses are
moved along with the decumbent nucleus with a velocity decreasing from
the equator to the poles; and if the least retardation operates on the
atmospheric and oceanic waters, a counter-current will be formed,
flowing with the greatest rapidity where the retardation is greatest.
This, he says, occurs along the equator, where the horary motion is at
its maximum; and thus the tropic current is formed. This current
receives volume and velocity from another cause, which is thus
explained: "Immediately under the sun, or where the beams of that
luminary are direct, a vacuum is produced, into which the circumambient
air rushes; and as this vacuity is carried westward along the equator,
upwards of 1,035 miles hourly, an atmospheric current follows, which,
acting on the ocean waters, impels them westward, and adds force and
mass to the tropic current. In the Atlantic Ocean, from the peculiar
structure of its shores, a very remarkable phenomenon--the Gulf
Stream--is produced. South America, in form an immense triangle, is
based on the Pacific, and protrudes its perpendicular angle into the
Atlantic at south latitude 6°. This salient point is Cape St. Roque,
from which the continent extends to the northwest, crosses the equator,
and stretches beyond the northern tropic, forming in the Gulf of Mexico
an immense reservoir. Here the continent again turns at right angles,
and continues northeast into the northern polar circle. The very deep
indenting of the American Continent in the Gulf of Mexico, and the long
line of coast from its recesses into the southern section of the torrid
zone, is in a peculiar manner calculated to produce that very reflux,
which constitutes the largest whirlpool on the globe."
Much more does this ingenious writer advance, but my limits prevent its
insertion here, and the subject is not exactly in accordance with the
tenor of my task. Suffice it for the present, that upon this day, the
18th of June, we have passed over this equatorial current, and are now
heading for our native shores, and are in the waters made classic by the
glorious endeavors of the early navigators. Strange is it that of all
those who sought this coast, the name of John Cabot, the first
adventurer who landed upon it, should be so seldom mentioned: and
History, called by a philosopher a Splendid Lie, should prove its title
to mendacity, by giving all the glory of the land, "_primum visa_" to
his son, Sebastian. To John Cabot, a Venetian, then a merchant of
Bristol, England, in the reign of the Seventh Henry, is all the honor to
be ascribed of setting the first European foot upon the then desert
wilds that now bloom, the Garden of the United States; and if a name
must be derived from the discoverer, without reference to its euphony,
to descend as a patronymic, by such a rule, we should be called
Cabotians, instead of Yankees, United Staters, or by the Vespucian title
of Americans.
But to Columbus attaches all the fame of the original idea of navigating
the Western Seas, and if he did not set foot upon the shores towards
which we are now sailing, his voyage incited others to undertake what
perhaps would never otherwise have been dreamed of, and the tropics
would long after have remained painted in their imaginations as a circle
of fire in which the Salamander sported. About a year after the Genoese
had returned from his first voyage--I quote from an Italian,
Tiraboschi--the merchant of Bristol appears to have embraced the idea
that new lands might be discovered in the North West, and a passage to
India might be brought to light by this course. And, in answer to his
application, on the 5th of March, 1495, King Henry the Seventh granted a
commission to John Cabot and his three sons, Louis, Sebastian, and
Sanchez. And on the 24th of June, 1497, he discovered that part of this
Continent, which he called "_Terra primum Visa_" nearly a year previous
to the discovery of the country south of the Isthmus of Darien. But,
_satis superque_, we have had almost enough of ships and the sea. Our
prow is directed towards our own loved shores; the southern gales waft
us propitiously on them; with each swell of the ocean, our bosoms heave
in unison, our hearts leap forwards with our gallant barque, over every
obstructing wave:
"Bend, bend, ye lithe and quivering spars,
Point home my country's stripes and stars."
It is evening, and yon setting sun, whose course we have tracked from
the lonely anchorage in the Typa, down the China Seas, across the Indian
Ocean, and over the wide expanse of the Atlantic, sinks slowly to night
behind the mountains of our own broad and beautiful land. They gild the
spire of an ancient village church, beneath which, in the days that are
no more, our youthful ears drank in the kindly teachings of the
gray-headed and venerable man, now forming one of the congregation that
sleeps beneath the green sod surrounding it. They gild, with a golden
tint, the attic windows of an old homestead, behind the small panes of
which, there came to us once, more golden, but equally unsubstantial,
visions, when our hearts, untravelled, sank to slumbers light and sweet.
Ere its next setting, have hopes that the telegraph wires will convey
thither the glad news of our safe return.
We have taken a pilot on board; the chain cables are ranged forward on
either gangway, bent to the anchors, ready for letting go; the changing
color of the water denotes soundings, and every thing indicates we shall
soon be in.
Patient reader, my Cruise is completed. Its preparation has beguiled me
of many a monotonous hour at sea. If either at sea or on shore it be, in
this manner beneficial to you, I shall be satisfied. We must part. I bid
you adieu, with a feeling towards you as if you had been my _compagnon
du voyage_; and fervently wish that your Cruise of Life may be over
placid seas, to pleasant ports, and always in company with kind and
generous friends.
THE END.
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Transcriber's Notes:
Inconsistencies in the hyphenation of words preserved. (ahoy, a-hoy;
cocoanut, cocoa-nut; flagship, flag-ship; Lintin, Lin-tin; lookout,
look-out; northeast, north-east; shipboard, ship-board; topgallant,
top-gallant; Tyfoong, Ty-foong; Woosung, Woo-sung)
Pg. 58, name d'Assis is also rendered as D'Assis in other instances on
the same and subsequent pages. Original text preserved in all
instances.
Pg. 65, "allthough" changed to "although" (although her owner appeared
to)
Pg. 84, unusual spelling "grandiliquose" retained.
Pg. 119, "afterterwards" changed to "afterwards". (treaty which was
afterwards)
Pg. 127, "fom" changed to "from". (No news from home!)
Pg. 137, "o" changed to "of". (much reluctance that these Celestial
citizens of)
Pg. 165, "unshophisticated" changed to "unsophisticated". (appeared to
my unsophisticated)
Pg. 168, "supended" changed to "suspended". (suspended from an oar)
Pg. 179, name of corvette "Don Jooa", is spelled "Don Joao" on page 83.
Original text preserved in both instances.
Pg. 191, "unobstrusive" changed to "obtrusive". (his unobstrusive
manners)
Pg. 196, unmatched doublequote marks in block of quoted speech: "if
Britannia ... to the "_Line_!". To avoid ambiguity, this has been
changed to "if Britannia ... to the '_Line_!'".
Pg. 214, paragraph ending with '... robbery and murder.' In the
original text this paragraph ended with a doublequote mark indicating
that some portion of the paragraph was quoted speech. However an
opening doublequote mark was missing and it was not clear where the
quoted speech began. Perhaps the quote speech began after 'asserted
that' but there is no way of being sure. Hence, the closing doublequote
mark has been removed from the paragraph.
Pg. 223, "af" changed to "of". (the story of the Argonauts)