Whirlpools are produced by opposing winds and tides; the whirlpool of Maelstrom, on the coast of Norway, is occasioned by the meeting of tidal currents round the islands of Lofoden and Mosköe; it is a mile and a half in diameter, and so violent that its roar is heard at the distance of several leagues. Although with winds, tides, and currents, it might seem that the ocean is ever in motion, yet in the equatorial regions, far from land, dead calms prevail; the sea is of the most perfect stillness day after day; partaking of the universal quiet, and heaving its low flat waves in noiseless and regular periods as if nature were asleep. The safety and length of a voyage depends upon the skill with which a seaman avails himself of the set of the different currents, and the direction of the permanent and periodical winds; it is frequently shortened by following a very circuitous track to take advantage of them if favourable, or to avoid them if unfavourable. From Acapulco, in Mexico, across the Pacific to Manilla or Canton, the trade-wind and the equatorial current are so favourable that the voyage is accomplished in 50 or 60 days; whereas, in returning, 90 or 100 are required. Within the Antillas navigation is so difficult from winds and currents, that a vessel, going from Jamaica to the lesser Antillas, cannot sail directly across the Caribbean Sea, but must go round about through the windward passage between Cuba and Haiti to the ocean; nearly as many weeks are requisite to accomplish this voyage as it takes days to return. On account of the prevalence of westerly winds in the North Atlantic, the voyage from Europe to the United States is longer than that from the latter to Europe; but the Gulf-stream is avoided in the outward voyage [_i. e._ from Europe], because it would lengthen the time by a fortnight. Ships going to the West Indies, Central or South America, from Europe, generally make the Canary Islands in order to fall in with the N.E. trade-winds. The passage to the Cape of Good Hope from the British Channel may be undertaken at any season, and is accomplished in 50 or 60 days; but it is necessary to regulate the voyage from the Cape to India and China according to the seasons of the monsoons. There are various courses adopted for that purpose, but all of them pass through the very focus of the hurricane district, which includes the islands of Rodriguez, the Mauritius, and Bourbon, and extends from Madagascar to the island of Timor. The extensive deposits of coal discovered in the Bay of Talcahuano, in Chile, in Australia, New Zealand, in the British settlement at Labuan, and in Borneo, will be the means of increasing the steam navigation of the Pacific, and shortening the voyages upon that ocean.