Trade winds

“ The southeast trade-winds, with their load of vapor, whether great or small, take, after ascending in the equatorial calms, a northeasterly direction; they continue to flow in the upper regions of the air in that direction until they cross the tropic of Cancer. The places of least rain, then, between this tropic and the pole, should be precisely those places which depend for their rains upon the vapor which the winds that blow over southeast trade-wind Africa and America convey. ”

“ When a trade-wind is turned out of its course, it is regarded as a monsoon. For instance, the summer sun, beating on the interior plains of Asia, creates such intense heat in the atmosphere that it is more than sufficient to neutralize the forces which cause the trade-winds to blow. They are, accordingly, arrested and turned back. The great general law of the trades is in this region temporarily suspended, and the monsoons are created. ”

“ The trade winds are caused, it is said, by the inter-tropical heat of the sun, which, expanding the air, causes it to rise up near the equator; it then flows off in the upper currents north and south, and there is a rush of air at the surface both from the north and the south to restore the equilibrium — hence the trade-winds. ”

“ Passing farther south we entered the wide belt of ocean over which the north-east trade wind blows. These almost unchanging winds, on both sides of the equator, known as “the trades,” are remarkable evidences of the goodness and wisdom of God. The beauty of this arrangement cannot but strike a thoughtful voyager most deeply. Without dwelling upon the fact that these and their partner winds are the great regulators of airs, clouds, and rains over the whole earth, we cannot but notice their great importance to commerce. ”

“ The trade winds are generally considered among the most constant of winds, blowing for days or even weeks with little change of direction or speed. However, at times they weaken or shift direction, and there are regions where the general pattern is disrupted. ”

“ Even the experienced observers on islands and the alert officers on shipboard might not see the real implications in the weather messages they prepare. In the enormous reaches of the belt of trade winds, where the tremendous energy of the sun’s heat and the irresistible force of earth rotation dictate that the winds shall blow as steady breezes from the northeast, somebody might put in his report, for example, that there was a light wind coming from the southwest. ”

“ Of the steady Trade Winds blowing.
And o’ nights there’s fire-flies and the yellow moon,
And in the ghostly palm-trees the sleepy tune
Of the quiet voice calling me, the long low croon
Of the steady Trade Winds blowing. ”

“ The trade-winds, so called from the advantage which their certainty affords to trading vessels, are another example of the same kind; they are generally stated to blow from east to west over the equator, and are occasioned by the rarefaction of the air by the sun’s heat, and the motion of the earth from west to east. ”

“ Indeed, these winds are an extraordinary blessing to those that use the sea in any part of the world within the tropics; for as the constant trade-winds do blow, there could be no sailing in these seas; but by the help of the sea and land-breezes, ships will sail 200 or 300 leagues, as particularly from Jamaica to the Lagune of Trist, in the Bay of Campeachy, and then back again, all against the trade-wind. The seamen that sail in sloops or other small vessels in the West Indies do know very well when they shall meet a brisk land-wind by the fogs that hang over the land before night ”

“ Even in the constitutional realm of Trade Winds, north and south of the equator, ships are overtaken by strange disturbances. Still, the easterly winds, and, generally speaking, the easterly weather all the world over, is characterized by regularity and persistence. ”

“ All our surface-winds, except the light, peculiar W. S. W. wind which is felt where the counter-trade is in contact with the earth, and which is a part of it, and perhaps the genuine N. W. wind which is very peculiar, are incidents of the trade, and are due to its conditions and attractions. We have already said this was true of the easterly wind and scud of a storm—it is alike true of all. The storm winds east of the Alleghanies are usually, though not always, from the eastward. ”

“ It can be demonstrated that the origin of cyclones is found in the tendency of the southeast trade-winds to invade the territory of the southeast trades, by sweeping over the equator into our hemisphere. ”

“ It may be argued from the above facts that the anti-trade winds are thus maintained by storms incessantly making the circuit of the globe within the temperate zone. But in reality, instead of being the effect of storm-influence, the anti-trades are originated by independent solar agency, as are the trades, and they are potential and causal in producing the eastward progression of all cyclones. It must be conceded that the pressure of vast aërial currents does serve to force the meteor along with them as the river-eddy is carried down stream with the water-current ”

“ They are eminently deserving of such notice, however, from being periodical Trade-winds of the highest order of utility in one of the busiest commercial regions of the world. Their periodical or shifting character is the circumstance upon which their extensive utility in a great measure depends, amongst nations where the complicated science of navigation is but in a rude state. Myriads of vessels sail from their homes during one monsoon before the wind, or so nearly before it, that there is no great skill required in reaching all the ports at which they wish to touch ”

“ North or north-west winds are, however, as a rule never of long continuance, and indeed frequently continue only a few hours, because so soon as the first burst is over, the trade-wind, upon whose limits it has encroached, soon begins to drive it before it, under the influence of an air-wave from the southward, and ships which, with the view of suffering as little as possible from north or north-west winds, keep as far from the lighthouse as possible, have nothing to dread from even a heavy "norther," if all proper precautions are taken, and their anchors and cables hold. ”

“ The casual winds produce only a passing effect, their action never reaching far below the surface. But regular currents, such as the trade winds, acting from century to century throughout countless ages, have gradually penetrated to great depths, thus largely contributing to determine their general movement. ”

“ It is usually tracked by a horse, who trots along the margin to a limited distance, after which he is relieved by another.
TRADE-WINDS, certain regular winds blowing within or near the tropics, and being either periodical or perpetual. Thus, in the Indian ocean, they blow alternately from different points of the compass, during a limited season; and, in the Atlantic ocean, continue almost without intermission in the same direction. They are accordingly called trade-winds, from their great utility in navigation and commerce. See Monsoon and Wind.
TRAIN. See the articles Cannon and Fire-ship. ”

“ The vapour which rose in the tropics overflows, and as it cools and gets beyond the region of the trade winds, descends mainly over the Northern Atlantic, carrying with it its greater velocity of rotation, and so causing westerly winds, 304 which reach our shores after blowing over a wide expanse of ocean heated by the Gulf Stream, thus bringing us warmth and wet, while the corresponding counter-currents which blow over continental Europe and Asia from the north-east bring cold and drought. ”

“ In the belt of the northeast trades the weight of the air for a given area is greater than in the doldrums, the wind blows with remarkable uniformity both of direction and force, the sky is normally clear, and rain infrequent except when the warm moist air is forced upward either by local storms or on coming in contact with high land. The trade-winds blow across the West Indies, Mexico, and much of Central America. ”

“ They were produced by the trade winds being the compensating cause that restored the balance which these served to destroy, according to that beautiful principle in nature which always provides a remedy for any derangement in the deranging cause itself. ”

“ The land and sea breezes express more than double the amount of wind force which the direct heat of the sun is capable of exerting upon the tradewinds. I say more than double, because in the land and sea breezes the wind-producing power acts alternately on the land and on the sea—in opposite scales of the balance; whereas in the trade-winds it acts all the time in one scale—in the sea scale ”

“ These united waters, directed by the trade winds, blowing always from the eastward, occasion a current of such force, running westward from the Windward Islands to the shores of Mexico, that it is frequently impossible for the best sailing vessels to make their way through it. ”