And this it was that so prolonged our passage to the westward.

Even in a moderate breeze, I sometimes fancied, that the impulse of the wind little more than counteracted the glide of the currents; so that with much show of sailing, we were in reality almost a fixture on the sea.
The equatorial currents of the South Seas may be regarded as among the most mysterious of the mysteries of the deep.

Whence they come, whither go, who knows?
Tell us, what hidden law regulates their flow.
Regardless of the theory which ascribes to them a nearly uniform course from east to west, induced by the eastwardly winds of the Line, and the collateral action of the Polar streams; these currents are forever shifting.

Nor can the period of their revolutions be at all relied upon or predicted.
But however difficult it may be to assign a specific cause for the ocean streams, in any part of the world, one of the wholesome effects thereby produced would seem obvious enough.

And though the circumstance here alluded to is perhaps known to every body, it may be questioned, whether it is generally invested with the importance it deserves.