Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-05-10
TILE ocEAN mILEsFoNEs.
ITOwnsend's Letter to the Cincinnati Ga1etsel

ITownsend's Letter to the Cincinnati GazetteJ
Now theRreat ystery of the sea is beheld
In our vast Ignorance Of 1t. Boundfess as
the vaetness of its waters, and as day sue
ceeds day, ushered In by no sail, crossed by
none. and none appearing at night TO reach
its white hand above the horizons we teel
the mysterious power of our compass, In
whose veeriny pulse we trust, and the uses.
OF the stars and sun that steady our quad
rant and sfoop down to lead as. But of the
oceans boundaries. and islets and shadows,
we do not know till we see the captains
chart, OF which there Is no copy In our
scool atlas. Hereou are places denoted OF
struck once By lone vessel, and their lon-3
gitude and latitude carefully marked,
yet In the great void of waters
Swallowed up again. SoT that with
much cruising our impeffect calcula-
tious, never find them; The names
Bnufs Bank, of Bazariethy's Rock, of
Woodalrs Rock, of Virgin Rocks, we do
notzeaf. yet 10 the North Atlantic they
have their places well attested but cap
tains have sailed this ocean where they lie
q hundred voyages and never proved them
real. So broad and trackless Is the deep,
that two steamers, quitting New York to-
gether. sailing the same course and at vthe.
afBe rate Of speed, rarely see each other
after the first night out. Their compass
differs hairs point, and they float hun
dred miles. apart Here on the chart Is
marked: '.Perseus Shoal (breakers), signi-
fying thatin mid-Atlantic there is spot so
shallow that the surf breaks upon it as up
oh RockaWk9 Bar or sandy Hook. Men
are xrayiwf6h sailing onAthe route ofsPer-E
seus EhOal, who never heard their surges
nor saw them fash lost in the great deep
in an awful sentence. The coming of asail
to those who drift, is like finding the true
catch TO Dodd's combination lock, with
its billion changes With all the yes-
sells of steam or sail that ply between
America and England, it is rare to espy
more than three between the opposite
cdzstg while you are crossing the sea-
Some vaguely understood matters of the
earth's fot6hdity8 not 1lew save to our
landsmeps Ignorance become palpa9le,l
skeleton, water and mefiGians only, like
an empty hoop skirt. For example :sWe
eetfbat. the Straits Of Gibraltan instead of
facing Cuba due westward, are nearly
upon, the latitude Of CINCINNATI; that Lon
don does not lie opposite New York, but
Onposite Labrador; that when enc is nearlyi
halfway to Europe Is be- due south of
Greenland, and still west of the mouths of
the Amazon that, If yoli are shipwrecked
IA mid-sea, y0flr nearest land will be the
Azore Islands, from which, indeed, yol are
but 500 miles on the route between New
Y0Flr and southampton. 4 ne fOdt0 6tietG CAT
rits YOU to England quickest Is not a straight
line upon the map, bat q curved one. You
kail On the :. arc Of 3 great circle, aud SO
reduce YOUR voyage from 4,O00 miles to
3O00.s This is the simple proposition In
navigation. that a crooked line between
two points is shorter than straight one.
To avoidaicebefgs. which Drift TO as low
latitude as Nantucket, you sometimes bear
due eastward or even sOutheastWard, and
then bend actually north by east. The
Gulf stream, the Banks, and the Roaring
Forties are tue great belts that you must
cross: the one is the zodiac OF the ocean,
spahgled with wrecks, seaweeds and Ice
beFQs :; the second is the broad geyferS ot
the Atlantic, smoking eternally-the veil
between the New World and the Old-Na-
ture's last nIimidationtO che sailor seeking
the Western Hemisphere; in the Roar
ing -Forties you sail where aH the wind
80 blow. sheltered by no coasts, subject
tosthe nerce and mutaDIe numors OF Gne
great waters and their skies. In every
ionk swell that sWims toward you there
are 3 thousand tons Of bri1es In every
gull that daehes ike pearl In your wake
deeoends with no friendly SAID In IT'S seem-I
hrece. The gales cap every wave with
.vI,ite foam. TIL the sea to the herizonlooks
like shoaI Iof sharks with .quiVering fins.
Norning arises upon theseme dreary Wasteg
eve tl,at the clouds1&Fe stronger and more
imnerious: no bright fints In them, as at
hone. but grey and scnd ding, ike the CONE
nIexion OF the ocean, and filed with its
restless spirit
.Iso1fe dpisE nlHes es os IS .san