"
"I believe that's the truth," replied Ready; "I heard say that the
Andaman Isles were supposed to have been first inhabited by a slaver
full of negroes, who were wrecked on the coast in a typhoon."
"What is a typhoon, Ready?"
"It is much the same as a hurricane, William; it comes on in India at
the change of the monsoons."
"But what are monsoons?"
"Winds that blow regular from one quarter so many months during the
year, and then change round and blow from another just as long."
"And what are the trade-winds, which I heard poor Captain Osborn
talking about after we left Madeira?"
"The trade-winds blow on the equator, and several degrees north and
south of it, from the east to the west, following the course of the
sun."
"Is it the sun which produces these winds?"
"Yes, the extreme heat of the sun between the tropics rarefies the air
as the earth turns round, and the trade-winds are produced by the
rushing in of the less heated air."
"Yes, William; and the trade-winds produce what they call the Gulf
Stream," observed Ready.
"How is that? I have heard it spoken of, papa."
"The winds, constantly following the sun across the Atlantic Ocean, and
blowing from east to west, have great effect upon the sea, which is
forced up into the Gulf of Mexico (where it is stopped by the shores of
America), so that it is many feet higher in the Gulf than in the
eastern part of the Atlantic.
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