gh, from the
fact that there is no land to enable the eye to mark the flow, such
drifts are not perceptible. One of the most celebrated drifts of modern
times, and the most astonishing on account of its extent, was that of
the _Fox_ in Baffin's Bay in the year 1857, a somewhat detailed account
of which will be found in a succeeding chapter.

The Gulf Stream is the cause of many of the most furious storms. The
fiercest gales sweep along with it, and it is supposed that the spring
and summer fogs of Newfoundland are caused by the immense volumes of
warm water poured by it into the cold seas of that region. We are told
that Sir Philip Brooke found the temperature of the sea on each side of
this stream to be at the freezing-point, while that of its waters was 80
degrees. From this it may be easily seen how great are the disturbing
influences around and above it; for, as the warm and moist atmosphere
over it ascends in virtue of its lightness, the cold air outside rushes
in violently to supply its place, thus creating storms.

The warm waters of this stream do not, it is believed, anywhere extend
to the bottom of the sea. It has been ascertained, by means of the
deep-sea thermometer, that they rest upon, or rather flow over, the cold
waters which are hastening from the north in search of those elements
which, in their wanderings, they have lost. As cold water is one of the
best non-conductors of heat, the Gulf Stream is thus prevented from
losing its caloric on its way across the Atlantic to ameliorate the
climates of the western coasts of Europe, and moderate the bitterness of
the northern seas. Were it otherwise, and this great stream flowed over
the crust of the Earth, so much of its heat would be extracted, that the
climates of France and our own islands would probably resemble that of
Canada. Our fields would be covered, for two, three, or four months,
with deep snow; our rivers would be frozen nearly to the bottom; our
land traffic would perhaps be carried on by means of sledges and
carioles; our houses would require to be fitted with double
window-frames and heated with iron stoves and our garments would have to
be made of the thickest woollens and the warmest furs.

The presence and the unchanging regularity of these great hot and cold
currents in the ocean is indicated very clearly by the living
inhabitants of the deep. These, as certainly as the creatures of the
land, are under the influence of climate;