Page:Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology.djvu/98

72 themselves near the coast when they are very far off (having been drifted by the currents). On the other hand, ships are often cast on the coast by sailing in the eddy of the Stream, which causes them to outrun their common reckoning. Every year produces new proofs of these facts, and of the calamities incident thereto."

188. The discovery of the high temperature of the Gulf Stream followed by a decline in Southern commerce.—Though Dr. Franklin's discovery was made in 1775, yet, for political reasons, it was not generally made known till 1790. Its immediate effect in navigation was to make the ports of the Northern States as accessible in winter as in summer. What agency this circumstance had in the decline of the direct trade of the south, which followed this discovery, would be, at least to the political economist, a subject for much curious and interesting speculation. I have referred to the commercial tables of the time, and have compared the trade of Charleston with that of the northern cities for several years, both before and after the discovery of Dr. Franklin became generally known to navigators. The comparison shows an immediate decline in the southern trade and a wonderful increase in that of the north. But whether this discovery in navigation and this revolution in trade stand in the relation of cause and effect, or be merely a coincidence, let others judge.

189. Statistics.—In 1769 the commerce of the two Carolinas equalled that of all the New England States together; it was more than double that of New York, and exceeded that of Pennsylvania by one-third. From McPherson's Annals of Commerce.—Exports and Imports in 1769, valued in Sterling Money.