INTERCOLONIAL COMMERCE. 339 SO heavy a ship, and in the imperfect state of navi- gation among the Spaniards, exceed between three and four months. After losing the monsoon, the object of the navigator is to get into the latitudes of the variable or westerly winds, or, as Humboldt calls them, in opposition to the trade winds, the at- mospherical counter cuiTents. These, according to the present mode of navigation, are sought, not in the southern but the northern hemisphere, for which purpose, the galleon ascends as high as the latitude of 28. 55 degrees, and then steers in a south-east direction for Acapulco. The passage of the galleon back to the Philippines is perfonn- ed in one half the time she takes to make the voy- age to America, although she touches at the Ma- rian islands, and sometimes at the Sandwich islands, to water. Taking advantage of the north- west winds which blow on the northern coast of Mexico, she steers in a southerly direction, until she attains the parallel of Manilla, when she makes full sail to the west. * Although the whole navi-
- " When she arrives in the parallel of Manilla, she makes
full sail to the west, having always a tranquil sea, and re- freshing breezes from the point between the east and east- north-east. Nothing interrupts the serenity of the heavens in these regions, except sometimes a slight squall, which is felt when the vessel arrives at the zenith." — Humboldt's New Spain, Vol, IV. chap. 12.
