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CURRENTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. too
height. On the coasts of Zante, in the Ionian Sea, it is less than six inches ; finally, at Corfu, it does not exceed an inch.* In the Oriental basin of
the Mediterranean, the tide is likewise very slight; nevertheless, the alternate oscillation of the sea is not ignored by the people living on the
shores. Omar spoke, doubtless, of the tide when he said," The sea stands
very high, and day and night it entreats the permission of God to inundate the land."
Not only has the Mediterranean its ebb and flow like the ocean, but it
has also its currents and eddies, and among these phenomena there are
some which, without being as formidable as the Moskoestrom or Blanchard Race, are not less celebrated, because of the glory with which classical antiquity has invested them. Thus the Euripus, or Strait of Egripos,
which separates the Island of Negropont from Continental Greece, is said
to be traversed by extraordinary currents, which produce with regularity
their surprising phenomena. Up to the eighth day of the lunar month,
the ebb and flow, whose mean amplitude is less than a foot, follow one
another in a normal manner, only with one hour's delay; but from the
ninth to the thirteenth day the movement of oscillation is suddenly hastened, and during the twenty-four hours no less than twelve, thirteen, or
fourteen tides may be counted, each one having its flow, its period of
stability, and its ebb. From the fourteenth to the twentieth day a normal state of things prevails; then, from the twenty-first to the twenty-
sixth, ever}'- day will again be marked by a series of a dozen high and
low tides. Such is the result of the experiences of the millers, who see
the wheels of their mills turn alternately one way and the other, according to the direction of the current, f On their side, the Mussulmans maintain, as an article of faith, that the five waves of the Euripus regularly
follow the five hours of prayer ;J finally, the rapid observations of several
travelers describe in still another manner the oscillations of the sea in the
narrow channel. The fact is, that the currents of the Strait of Negropont
are unexplained, and if they succeed one another in as strange a manner
as the inhabitants of those shores affirm, one would really comprehend
the legend, according to which Aristotle, after having vainly sought to
divine the mystery, plunged in despair into the whirlpools of the Euripus.
Still more famous than the currents of the Strait of Euboea were the
abysses of Scylla and Charybdis, braved for the first time by the wise
Ulysses. According to the Homeric chants, the two howling monsters
which guarded the entrance to the Straits of Messina drew into their
submarine caverns immense whirlpools of water, which they afterward
discharged in furious currents, and all the ships which approached those
formidable caverns were inevitably ingulfed. At present there are no
straits in the Mediterranean more frequented than those of Messina, and,
owing to the soundings effected in these pretended abysses where the
ancients saw the navel of the sea, the monsters have lost their terrible
* Von Hoff, Verdnderungen der Erdoberfldche, t. iii., p. 256.
t Berghaus von Kloden, Handbuch der Erdkunde. X Natur, t. viii., 1864.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000138 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | CURRENTS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. too height. On the coasts of Zante, in the Ionian Sea, it is less than six inches ; finally, at Corfu, it does not exceed an inch.* In the Oriental basin of the Mediterranean, the tide is likewise very slight; nevertheless, the alternate oscillation of the sea is not ignored by the people living on the shores. Omar spoke, doubtless, of the tide when he said," The sea stands very high, and day and night it entreats the permission of God to inundate the land." Not only has the Mediterranean its ebb and flow like the ocean, but it has also its currents and eddies, and among these phenomena there are some which, without being as formidable as the Moskoestrom or Blanchard Race, are not less celebrated, because of the glory with which classical antiquity has invested them. Thus the Euripus, or Strait of Egripos, which separates the Island of Negropont from Continental Greece, is said to be traversed by extraordinary currents, which produce with regularity their surprising phenomena. Up to the eighth day of the lunar month, the ebb and flow, whose mean amplitude is less than a foot, follow one another in a normal manner, only with one hour's delay; but from the ninth to the thirteenth day the movement of oscillation is suddenly hastened, and during the twenty-four hours no less than twelve, thirteen, or fourteen tides may be counted, each one having its flow, its period of stability, and its ebb. From the fourteenth to the twentieth day a normal state of things prevails; then, from the twenty-first to the twenty- sixth, ever}'- day will again be marked by a series of a dozen high and low tides. Such is the result of the experiences of the millers, who see the wheels of their mills turn alternately one way and the other, according to the direction of the current, f On their side, the Mussulmans maintain, as an article of faith, that the five waves of the Euripus regularly follow the five hours of prayer ;J finally, the rapid observations of several travelers describe in still another manner the oscillations of the sea in the narrow channel. The fact is, that the currents of the Strait of Negropont are unexplained, and if they succeed one another in as strange a manner as the inhabitants of those shores affirm, one would really comprehend the legend, according to which Aristotle, after having vainly sought to divine the mystery, plunged in despair into the whirlpools of the Euripus. Still more famous than the currents of the Strait of Euboea were the abysses of Scylla and Charybdis, braved for the first time by the wise Ulysses. According to the Homeric chants, the two howling monsters which guarded the entrance to the Straits of Messina drew into their submarine caverns immense whirlpools of water, which they afterward discharged in furious currents, and all the ships which approached those formidable caverns were inevitably ingulfed. At present there are no straits in the Mediterranean more frequented than those of Messina, and, owing to the soundings effected in these pretended abysses where the ancients saw the navel of the sea, the monsters have lost their terrible * Von Hoff, Verdnderungen der Erdoberfldche, t. iii., p. 256. t Berghaus von Kloden, Handbuch der Erdkunde. X Natur, t. viii., 1864. |
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