T
242 TIDES CDlIliENTS.
feet at spring tides. The principal swell of the ocean, which
causes the tidal streams ahout these islands, comes from the
south-east. Scarcely any stream is perceptible on the south-east
coast of East Falkland ; but along the north, south, and west
shores it increases in strength, until among the Jason Islands it
runs six miles an hour, causing heavy and dangerous races. Off
Berkeley Sound, across the entrance, and near Cape Carysfort,
the tide runs about two knots, at its greatest strength ; and
thence westward it increases gradually. Into Falkland Sound
the tide flows from both openings, and meets near the Swan
Islands; shewing, I apprehend, that the principal wave or
swell impinges upon the coast considerably eastward of south.
The tidal currents are stronger along the northern shores of
the archipelago than they are along the south coasts ; and the
stream of flood is stronger than the ebb. At Port William, the
easternmost harbour, the time of high water at full moon is
five; and thence westward, the times increase gradually to
half-past eight, at New Island, which is nearly the westernmost
of the group.
Generally speaking, the sea is much deeper near the southern
and western shores than it is near those of the north ; and
to those local differences I attribute the varying velocity of the
minor tide streams.
Besides these movements of the surrounding waters, there is
a current setting past the islands from south-west to northeast
; a current which continually brings drift wood to their
southern coasts, and has brought Fuegian canoes. On all parts
of the southern shores that are open to the south-west, the
beaches or rocks are covered with trees, which have drifted from
Staten Land or Tierra del Fuego. Great quantities of this
driftwood may be found between Cape Orford and Cape Meredith
; upon the Arch, Speedwell, George, and BaiTen Islands:
indeed, there are few places between Cape Orford and Choi-
seul Bay where a vessel may not find a good supply of fuel. On
Long Island, and in the bay behind the Sea-Lion Islands,
portions of Fuegian canoes have often been found; one consisted
of an entire side (pieces of bark sewed together), which
WINDS STOKMS. 243
could not have been made many years. At sea, when northeastward
of the Falklands, great quantities of drift kelp* are
seen, besides water-worn trunks and branches of trees, near
which there are generally fish, and numbers of birds. These
sure indications of a current from the south-west have been met
with upwards of two hundred miles to the northward of Berkeley
Sound. There is not, however, reason to think that this
current ever runs more than two knots an hour, under any circumstances,
and in all probability its usual set is even less than
one knot.
Wind is the principal evil at the Falklands: a region more
exposed to storms, both in summer and winter, it would he
difficult to mention.
The winds are variable; seldom at rest, while the sun is
above the horizon, and very violent at times; during the summer
a calm day is an extraordinary event. Generally speaking, the
nights are less windy than the days, but neither by night nor hy
day, nor at any season of the year, are these islands exempt
from sudden and very severe squalls; or from gales which blow
heavily, though they do not usually last many hours.
I t has been stated by Bougainville and others that in summer
the wind generally freshens as the sun rises, and dies away
about sunset: also, that the nights are clear and starlight.
The information I have received, with what I have myself witnessed,
induces me to agree to the first of tliese statements in
its most general sense, and to a certain degree I can admit the
second; but, at the same time, it is true that there are many
cloudy and very many windy nights in the course of each year,
I might almost say month. The Magellan was driven from
her anchors, though close to a weather shore in the narrowest
part of Berkeley Sound, and totally wrecked in Johnson Harbour
about midnight of the 12th of Januaryf 1833.
The prevalent direction of the wind is westerly. Gales, in
general, commence in the north-west, and draw or fly round
to the south-west; and it may be remarked, that when rain
* Sea-weed detached from the rocks and drifting with the current.
t The month which, in that hemisphere, corresponds to July in ours.
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