generally found in it; and
those which inhabit it are of a very inferior flavour. Instead,
therefore, of wandering about the ocean, where they could not be
procured by man, they are driven to the shallow waters near the coast,
where they can easily be caught. It is a curious fact, that the warmer
the water, the brighter are the colours of the fish which inhabit it;
though, as food, they are generally of much less value. While the Gulf
Stream largely benefits the globe, it is at the same time the proximate
cause of shipwreck and disaster, from the storms which it creates, in
consequence of the irregularity of its temperature, and that of the
neighbouring regions, both in air and water. Perhaps nowhere is a more
terrific sea found than when a heavy gale meets the Gulf Stream, when
running at its maximum rate. Many a ship has gone down beneath its
waters. However, I might go on all day telling you curious things about
this same Gulf Stream. One thing more I will mention: people often
complain of the dampness of England. The same cause which so favourably
tempers the cold of our country, creates the dampness complained of. It
is not that our soil is more humid, that marshes exist, or that the
country is not well drained; but it is that the westerly and
north-westerly breezes which prevail, come loaded with the warm vapours
ascending from the tropic heated waters of the Gulf Stream."

"Thank you, father, for all you have told us," said Gerard; "I think I
have learned a great deal I did not know before."

I was certain that I had, and directly afterwards put down, as well as I
could remember, all Captain Frankland had said. The next day we sighted
Saint Vincent, one of the ten islands which form the Cape de Verd group,
so-called from being off the Cape de Verds, on the coast of Africa. The
islands belong to the Portuguese. They produce all sorts of tropical
fruits and vegetables, so that ships often touch here to be supplied
with them. A large number of the inhabitants are black, or of a very
dark hue. Instead of standing directly for the Brazils, Captain
Frankland shaped a course almost across the Atlantic for the coast of
South America. He did this, he explained to Gerard and me, to get the
wind, which generally blows off that coast when the north-east trade
failed us; and to avoid the equatorial calms, in which, away from the
land, vessels are often baffled for days together. I found, after I had
been some