Africa and its inhabitants . e equator than elsewhere, is the primary cause of the generaloceanicmovement. But in any case the varjang degrees of salinity and heat betweenthe liquid layers must also tend to produce these currents, although the effectsproduced by them cannot be determined with the most delicate observations con-tinued for many years by skilled observers. iLVEINE CUREENTS OF THE AZOELiN BASIN. 13 The mean velocity of the chief currents in the Azorian Atlantic can scarcelybe estimated at much more than two-t^jirds of a mile per hour, or one-fortieth ofthat of the mnds above them.
Africa and its inhabitants . e equator than elsewhere, is the primary cause of the generaloceanicmovement. But in any case the varjang degrees of salinity and heat betweenthe liquid layers must also tend to produce these currents, although the effectsproduced by them cannot be determined with the most delicate observations con-tinued for many years by skilled observers. iLVEINE CUREENTS OF THE AZOELiN BASIN. 13 The mean velocity of the chief currents in the Azorian Atlantic can scarcelybe estimated at much more than two-t^jirds of a mile per hour, or one-fortieth ofthat of the mnds above them. In the eastern section of the main eastern currentthe movement varies from 15 to 18 miles in the twenty-four hours. In the centralparts of the basin, and especially in the Sargasso Sea, the speed slackens, but againincreases near the coast and in the straits between the archipelagoes. Althoughweak, the movement of the trade waters, aided by the corresponding winds, is rig. 5.—ATLAjmo WiNBs and 1 :4,000, WQ9t of Creenwich 1,100 Tarda. none the less of great aid to vessels bound for the New World, and but for thesefavourable conditions Columbus would certainly never have reached also to these currents, sailing vessels have often reached America whentheir crews were endeavouring to gain the islands or penetrate into the SoutliAtlantic waters. Nothing is more probable than that in remote times ships worethus turned from their course, and that Phccnicians, for instance, or other invo-luntary immigrants from the Old World, foimdcd colonies in America. -Vt the « ( 14 VTEST APEICA. pame time these conjectures regarding early epochs are confirmed by no directIvidence, whereas in modem limes many instances have been recorded of shipsdriven westwards by the trade winds and corresponding marine currents. Thus itwas that, in the year 1500, Alvarez Cabral discovered Brazil when bound for theEast Indies. Viera y Clavijo relates that a vessel sailing fr
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