Travels Round the World Volume 3; In the Years 1767, 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1792 Excerpt: ... This was the first instance of a frest wind, which was of any considerable continuance, since we could be said to have entered the ice; our former winds, as well as those we met with in periods subsequent to the present, had much resemblance to the gentle land breezes of summer. I remarked that the wind always declined towards evening; a fact which suggested a few reflections. C H A P. XXXII. Reflections on tropical Winds, and the. Calms which almojl constantly.prevail near the Poles--The Voyage is pursued amongst the Ice--Singular Difference betwixt the Sea Wolves of the North and South Seas--The Traffic the Hamburghers carry on to procure the Fat of these Animals. IN my travels round the 'world, I sound that the east, or trade winds, prevail, between the tropics over the whole. whole circumference of the globe, without any other variety than such as arises from storms introduced by westerly winds. These winds are evidently owing to the vertical rays of the fun, acting Upon the land on either side of the equator, and which form that season named Hiverrtage in the torrid parts of Africa and America, and the western Monsoons in India and China. Now, as the fun is the great efficient principle of motion and activity in bodies, to what shall we ascribe that lethargic calm, and that torpor, so remarkable within the bounds of the frozen zone, but to its extreme distance; whence it seems natural to suppose, that the elements approach nearly to a state of perfect quiescence in the regions directly under the pole. We directed our course towards the west; but on the 20th, the wind continuing fresh, we were obliged to come to ouc moorings on a bank: we lay to leeward, but the ice making a movement to windward, in the space of four hours the wind S 2 was was on our si...