The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-09-28
CURRENTS OF
THE PACIFIC

! a few years since. Mt our request.
Professor George Davidson gave to our
readers an explicit account or the
movement of the currents of the North
Pacific. He showed that the present
current was the north equatorial, NOV
/ ing ceaseiessly from the eastward to
the westward across the broadcast part
OF the ocean: thence northward past
the Philippines. Formosa. Liu Chiu and
Japan; across the northern part of the
Pacific under the Aleutian chain, and
thence southwark as the Pacific or CAL
| ifornia current to reach the point OF
starting. That when 1t leaves this
| coast near the Santa Barbara channel
and swings to the southwark. the west
ern edge becomes the northwestern
edge and by the time It reaches the
Hawaiian Islands, 1t Is moving to the
westward. Professor Davidson now
says: 1.-The proofs of this have been
growing in number since the time of
Vancouver. who relates his meeting a
great canoe of sixty-two feet in length
in the Kaieie Oahu channel between the
islands of Oahu and Kauai: that this
canoe was made of Oregon fir; and fur
Their that King Kamehameha informed
him that there was a double canoe
made from two trees of the same wood.
We know that such trees are yet picked
up. Professor Davidson has the rec
ords Of trees seen floating westward
on the northern sides Of the Islands.
and that all of them come from the
northern coast forests. Moreover. the
clincher is in one of the coast buoys.
bI oxen adrift from it's station. drifting
to the Hawaiian Islands and now doing
duty off the entrance to Honolulu har-
Dor. Also of lifebuoy lost from
Japanese man-of-war finding its home
on the north side of the islands. Japa-
nese derelicts have also been cast upon
their shores. The proofs are so nurher-
GUS that the most skeptical have no
ground upon which to disprove them.
II there were no atmospherical dis
turbances there would be regularity OF
movement of this great circular cur
rent, but in the tropics We have the
typhoons in the southwest region. the
northeast gales to the northeast of he
Philippines, the northern and north
western, and variable winds and storms
off Japan, the variable and stormy
winds under the Aleutian Islands; the
strong northwest, and west northwest
winds along the Pacific Coast, varied
by the southeasters. Across the Pa
cific. from about the latitude of twenty
nine degrees. southwark to the dol
drums, there blow the trade winds
from the northeastward These and
the westerly winds of the higher lati-
tudes are those through which all yes
sells pass in their route between the
coast and Hawaii. They are not con-
slant as to direction or strength; they
may die away almost to Gains and a
smooth sea, or blow heavily and kick
up a heavy swell. They may be so
gentle as to cause no surface drift. or
they may accelerate the current, and
also give heaving power to the
swell.
That Is the general effect. but what
the character of the currents through
the different channels and passages
among the islands, and around the
capes and points. and along the lines
of coral reefs that fringe most OF the
shores. no man knows and no man can
predict save that they must be irreg-
ular in direction and in velocity.
In clear weather the navigator can
fifty even to more than one hundred
miles, and then govern his course by
well-known landmarks.
In unfavorable weather all the ele-
nents of danger may conspire against
he most skillful and vigilant naviga-
or. He is blindfolded, his judgment
$ supremely taxed. and his nerve
In favorable weather. out of sight of
and, two navigators of equal skill may
each different conclusions as to posi-
ions. because their observations for
he determination of the latitude and
ongitude of the vessel are necessarily
imperfect. When the morning or after
loon observations are made for longi-
ude. the latitude Is assumed from the
'revlous determinations; and when the
altitude Is observed there must be in
trumental errors because low power
s necessarily used with the sextant. :
md in beautifully fine weather there !,
re errors of refraction at the horizon !,
hat no man may suspect or can de- .
ect by ordinary methods.
From these considerations and some |
ears OF experience, Professor David :
on put the probable error of q sea =
osition at not less than two miles. Now y
hese errors naturally go into the de-
srmination of the velocity OF the cur {
emit, and hence II they are not con- :
tant no commander can determine
nat fact by any means short OF divi-
alton. r.
Every commander on this coast p
iught in fog after leaving Cape Flat !,
,ry. or the Columbia River. and, get u
ng no sights southwark. has had his
nxious hours, when his time was up.
! get hold of the Point Reyesiren and q
cry few have even made It when ex- t,
scted. We have been on a steamship a
lat was twenty-five miles southwest "
the Southeast Farallon when her II
aster thought he was of Point n
ewes. In
But even barring all currents there III
another source OF error that has III
rely been studied. The compass. as 80
rule. Is not over foot In length. al
Id the vessel II from three to i've sc
inbred feet. or even more In length. m
I'd II Is extremely probable that the ii
bberiine OF the compass. distant on z,
half the length Of the compass. 10 IN
actly In line with the keep or middle bi
the ship. II that adjustment IL not al
rfoct then thera Ia constant arror a.,