The Sun.
London, England, 1816-10-28 00:00:00

TO ALL NAVIGATORS

Front t.':e Attuntic thNicrn 'to Vv., Ifeiterit gan'es of
.Euroiie; but inore parlieutrrty 16 tho.ie. of "Grat*
Britadi and to the Cugli4h et td .13rirO tt Channels.

The following arc the Causes of the ntitheruns
Shipwrecks on the Scilly Islands, in Nlonnt
in Cornwall, and on the Western Coots of Great
Britain ; but more patticiilarly fa 4110 Vatiglilli
-Channel :

All vessels; which arc bollnd tii the western,
Shores of Great Britain, from the 'Atlantic Ocean:,
Will always be rabject to that tiiswiter; oiithimr
care and attention to the circunt4tahces explained
hereafter; for they, will always be more or less
ahead of their reckoning, anti, of'course, will be
liable to he onshore before they.conjectore them-
selves to be near the land. This.wasilio doubt,
the cause of the loss of Admiral Shovel, in the
Association, with the Eagle and Romney in com-
pany, tin the 22d of October, 1707: for, by our
naval history, it appears, they brottglit too on that
day, and lay by till-son-iet, when they made .sail
for. the English Channel, supposing, no. doubt,,
they had space enough to run till day-light, with-
out getting into danger: butt theyswere cost
away. in the night on the Rocks tut „Scilly, end
every cont ,perished ; whereas, had they Solonleo
at sun-set, prior to their making sail, they might
have known they had not sufficient 'r on for the
night. The depth of Wafer at sun-set, .to the best
Of iny recollection, which will insure them safety
in the longest night's ruin towards the English
Chpnel, "should he ' not less titan .seventy-fiee
fathoms ; of course, more than that depth: or
Milting no soundings, will put them nut of all
&Quirt : btu, rut this exact depth, attention to
their charts must cautinn them, lest my memory
.should be-in error. The iiiischief Arises from ves-
.sels persisting to rim by
,their reckoning, without
sounding.;
,store particularly are they templet! to
this if they.' have had flue Weather in navigating
t to Atlantic Ocean, and, of -course, confide mote ,
..i their reckoning. •
" The reason vessels coming from tic west-
,iiard will always be far ti-head of their reckon-
ihg, say (Mc lrondrettiertgites,, noire or :less;• is
owing to the effect of, the GolPh, of Florida
st 1 cam ; and how that operates I
:will endeavour
to explain, hopint, the apparent siMplieity of my
description I‘ ill he excused by all Who think it
puerilely so, as it, is meant to explain it to ail
capacities, and particolarly to:those who may never,
hove attended to the geography of,„the coasts of
Mexico. The GOO orn,,,,id, Strealll rtini -with
more or less velocity, nr*Coitling tOrirentostauccs-y;
to he:explained .hercult.eri frOm out of the Golph
of Mexico, between
.the 13;thamit hrlandi and t'he
cOait'ot EaSt Floral!, and on iti arriving as far
north' us tin; north part of the Bahama:lslands, it
takes .n more . easterly direction, to 'restore the
lecei.uf the Atlantic Ocean, derarmed by the trade'
"wind:, as Will aPpear hereafter ; and the intittenee
it has in -iarryinkvessels to thi,eastward faster
th4w.they seerwto,rutr. by .their lug. is, withoot,
doubt, the cat„!,se ofJbe nntaVrunti aCeidel;tl ,YlllOl
have already happened, and will hi.ipPen in tutus',
unic'ss profier'catttiOn• is obscured. ' - `:
" AlPgeograpiters know that the winds, called.
tr.ide winds, blow.front the ,east vvard, between inc.
Tropic, of Cancer and the Tropic; of. Capiiedrn,
gentrally about ninenionths in mliesyear, and they
are theeause Of the CAilpb-of Florida stream.; for
they dove before cheat All tic: surface ot. tli,; At,
kutic Ocean, and that with a velocity, and in a
riantity greater or less, in proportion to their
strength:,l 'have beenin Abe Atlantic Occau when;
during..neur two:montbs, we could trot set a top.
sail, it blew mu strong.; and I have, at another
time,crossed the Atlantic Ocean ,when , I mayalinost
say, I could haVecarried`a lighted candle in my
hand, without a ',martini, all the time, *oil it
would not have blown out,., Ali,: strength of the
'stream, therefore, must vary, and w ill cause an cf.-
fcct equally uncertain. This. current it . is, which
Yorcitigits way into the Atlantic Ocean, • to re-
itore the level,interrupted'hy the trade winds, by
a current inclining more easterly as it gets clear
of the Bahama Islandt-, carries the. vessels a-head
of tit:e recko'nitig TO•explain this more fatriiliatly,
let one of us till a !mon with ivater.to the horn,
'then ' blow 'strong. ..on' :the surface, and the
water will- run over .orrithe opposite side oldie
bason to which we blow, by little waves raised
by tlielAowittg.-::-,Take souse of the water shit of
the bason,, and then on the-opposite side to that
on which we blow, - the little. waves will rise
against the side of the. halloo,: and the surface of•
the water being 'taised thereby, it will find its level
again by escaping on the sides of the besot), each
way ; but let a card,' or some other obstacle, be
put on one side, and the whole quantity will eseape
the other side, to produce a level. Just an it is'
with the water forced into the Golph of Mexico by
the trade winds ; for as it cannot find its level by
escaping on both sides, from the Gulph, owiog
to the north coast of South America extending so
far to the eastward as. again to meet the trade
winds, irali, therefore, escapes on the north side,
and-taks its Course along the east Coast of flu 4
ritia, midi it passes the larrhaturt.lslands, and then,
as 1 have said, lotect its way into theAdautia
Odeon, to restore the leyel intetrupted by .the
trade winds.-1 cahoot escape between the Islands,
because it racets the, trade winds again. This
current it isi which, forcing its rutty into the At-
lantic Ocean, governs the navigation of that sea,
And' COties yvssvis. so tritich to the eastward of
theirreekorring, that they approltch the western
shores of Europe before they are aware•ait i and
the weather :very frequently worts so .hazy and
cloudy,,that.no observations Can he taken to Cor-
rect:their, longitude, before they get 'two sound-
jugs, 1 have two informed, in the•wetit of Eng-
land, that a Vessel has' beim known (the oatue of
which was mentioned to. me) tohave ruo-oo shore
onthe.:tiotth Coast. of Devonshire, .with ail her
small sails set, in the night Linne right before the,
wind.:: 'But the iftequency of-, Wreck., on those
shores, is but tori, well 4seertailfed by. the .tnithy
tuclancholy : accounts Which ;Our ,lisiVal history
affords. . . ,'• .17 .; 2 !•• t,;,. ; , ,;,-i -,•:

Newels should. thetcfore, .olwar sopod nt
sun-set, whenev'er they'get one Wtottfred
leagues of Scilly by their reckoning,: wheweottink
from the westward ; and the depth of water, of
having no soundings, will ascertain what sail they

. ,
111.14-yarry In , oiglit,,:_wittlik getting.'
into rhorger before nimoing. But the
veißels trtli depend on their, recknatinge atul row
rtir t: t? .Englitilt in /iritisli.
I""nding,4llltire eipecirdiy
.if they hiippen..toattire
had nal, weather, on their voyitiza. J, niy,.elf:
in
tW(l.llCeied 4144 - was.:near, hring on the rocks-
>t Scilly, ,‘‘ hen cotniintlroin the West
" The loss of the Aleptitilerist otritintan, of
Portland, on the 25th of.Mtirch .I.,S;s,:when every_
soul on board perished, gave. Fise to the publie4-
tiiio of tisese observations., which, though. they.
may not possess milelitnierit. it isr hnoeit 1t ill not
bring into contempt the humble exertions al •
:IN OLD SFAAMAN."