ATLANTIC OCEAN, as the watery ex panse which separates Europe from America, is one of the most notable of commercial highways.
No first-class river flows into the Atlantic from Europe or Africa, the Rhine, the Danube, the Dnieper, and the Nile being of the se cond class. Of Africa, about one-half the surface is supposed to be drained by rivers which, directly or indirectly, flow into the Atlantic. But, on the American side, the Atlantic rivers are on the grandest scale; in cluding the Amazon, the Plata, the Orinoco, the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, and their numerous tributaries. It is calculated that the areas of country drained by rivers which flow into the Atlantic and its seas are six millions in America, six millions in Africa, three millions in Europe, and half a million in Asia.
The Gulf Stream greatly affects the naviga tion of the Atlantic Ocean. Vessels bound from Europe to North America avoid it as much as possible, because it would create a delay of at least a fortnight if they were to stem it. They therefore either sail to the south or to the north of it, commonly the latter, their course being accelerated as soon as they approach the continent of North America by the counter-currents which run between the Gulf Stream and the coast. The Gulf Stream is now avoided even by vessels returning from the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico, though by following its course they arrive four or five days sooner in Europe than those which avoid it. But it has been found by experience that such vessels suffer a damage in wear and tear which is greater than can be compensated by the gain of a few days.
It is a known fact that the water of the Atlantic Ocean, in different parts, contains different quantities of salt; and that the spe cific gravity is less near the poles than near the equator. There is a considerable difference between the specific gravity of the water of the Baltic and Mediterranean seas and the ocean. That of the Baltic contains only one-sixth of the salt which is found dissolved in the ocean, its specific gravity being on an average not more than 1.0049. The Mediterranean Sea contains somewhat more salt than the ocean ; to the east of the Straits of Gibraltar, the spe cific gravity of the sea-water is P0338 ; whilst between Cape St. Vincent and Cape Cantin, it was only found to be 1.0294.
The Atlantic is always busily laden with the produce which is passing from the old conti nent to the new, and vice versa. Magnificent steam ships traverse it from Glasgow, from Liverpool, from Southampton, from Bremen, from Havre, to Halifax, Boston, New York, the West Indies, and South America ; while sailing ships traverse its whole length on their route to the Pacific, to the great but almost unknown Southern Ocean, to the Cape of Good Hope, to India and China, and to our Australian Colonies. In a very few weeks after this page reaches the hands of the reader, ships laden with foreign treasures—treasures of productive industry—will be ascending and crossing the Atlantic, on their way to the great Gathering of Nations in 1851.