Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-10-22
DAILY EVENING STAR.
WONDERFUL WORKS OF THE CREATOR.

The mariner who first crossed the cen
tral Atlantic in search of a new world,
was astonished when, on the 9th of Sep
ternber, 1895. he found himself in the
midst of that great bank of Sea-weed mea-
dow of OviedO-the Sargasso sea which,
a varying breadth of 100 to 900 miles,
stretches over twenty-five degrees of lati-
tude, covering 2G0, 900 square miles in
surface, like huge floating garden, in
which countless myriads of minute AMI
mails find food and shelter. Now, it is
! the eddy of the numerous sea rivers which
collect in one spot, and the cold water of
the Northern Atlantic mixing with the
warm streams Of the western and south
ern currents, which produce the tcmpera-
| lures most fitted TO promote this amazing
developemcnt of vegetable and animal
! life. What becomes OF the dead remains
Of this vast marine growth Do they
decompose as fast as they are produced
or do they accumulate into deposits of
/ peculiar coal, destined TO reward the re-
, searches oituture geoiegists and engineers.
! when the Atlantic of our day has become
| the habitable lane of an aftcr-time In
! the chart Of the Pacific Ocean we are pre-
scented with another remarkable instance
Of the Influence Of sea rivers on vegeta-
ton. From the shores of South Victoria.
on the An!artic continent. stream of
cold water, 80 degrees in width (thc read
ers will recolicct that in high laiitudeS
the degrees of longitude are very mar
row. drifts slowly along in north east
and casterly direction across the South
eln Pacific; till ii ilnpenges upon the
South American coast to the south of Val
paralsO. There it divides into two arms:
one of which stretches south east, doubles
Cape Horn, and renetratcs into the south
western Atlantic: the ether flows first
northeast and then northwest along the
shores of Chill and Peru, carrying colder
waters in;o the warm sea, and producing
colder air along the low plains which
stretch from the shores of the Pacific to
the base of the Andes. This current. dis
covered by Humboidt and called after his
name. lowers the temperature of the air
! about twelve degrees: while that of the
water Itself is sometimes as much as
! twenty degrees colder than that of
/ the still waters Of t!4c ocean through
affects the vegetation along the whole of
the coast: at the same time that the cold
stream raises fogs and mists, which not
only conceal the shores and perpieX the
navigator, but extend inland also, and
materially nodifr the climate. The
beautiful and bcnciicent character ofmod-
flying Influence becomes not only appar-
rent, but most impressive, when we con-
slider, as the rain map of the world shows
u.s. that on the coast of Peru no rain ever
falls: and that, like tie desert of Sahara,
it ought, therefore, to be condemned to
perpetual barrenneSs. But in consequence
of the cold stream thus running along its
borders. - the atmosphere loses its trans
parency, and the sun is obScured for
months together. The vapors at Lima
/ are often so thick that the sun seen
through them with the naked eye assumes
the appearance Of the moon disc They
commence in the morning, and extend
over the plains in the form of refreshing
togs, which disappear soon after midday,
and are followed by heavy dews, which
are precipitated during the night" The
. morning mists and evening dews thus
supply the place OF the absent rains, and
the verdurc which covers the plains is ihe
offspring of a sea river. What charm
ing myth would the ancient poets have
made out OF this striking compenSation.-
Edin6ngh Recier.