We were bound hither from _Whydah_, at the latter Part of the Month _July_, when the Rains are over, and the Winds hang altogether S. W. (as they do before the Rains, S. E.) yet with this Wind (when at Sea) we found the Ship gained unexpectedly so far to the Southward, (_i. e._ Windward,) that we could with ease have weathered any of the Islands, and this seems next to impossible should be, if the Currents, which were strong to Leeward, in the Road of _Whydah_, had extended in like Manner cross the Bite of _Benin_: No, it must then have been very difficult to have weathered even Cape _Formosa_: On this Occasion, I shall farther expatiate upon the Currents on the whole Coast of _Guiney_.
The Southern Coast of _Africa_ runs in a Line of Latitude, the Northern on an Eastern Line, but both strait, with the fewest Inlets, Gulphs or Bays, of either of the four Continents; the only large and remarkable one, is that of _Benin_ and _Calabar_, towards which the Currents of each Coast tend, and is strongest from the Southward, because more open to a larger Sea, whose rising it is (tho' little and indiscernable at any Distance from the Land,) that gives rise to these Currents close in Shore, which are nothing but Tides altered and disturbed by the Make and Shape of Lands.
For Proof of this, I shall lay down the following Observations as certain Facts. That in the Rivers of _Gambia_ and _Sierraleon_, in the Straits and Channels of _Benin_, and in general along the whole Coast, the Flowings are regular on the Shores, with this Difference; that, in the abovemention'd Rivers, and in the Channels of _Benin_, where the Shore contract the Waters into a narrow Compass, the Tides are strong and high, as well as regular; but on the dead Coast, where it makes an equal Reverberation, slow and low, (not to above two or three Foot,) increasing as you advance towards _Benin_; and this is farther evident in that at Cape _Corso, Succonda_ and _Commenda_, and where the Land rounds and gives any Stop, the Tides flow regularly to four Foot and upwards; when on an evener Coast, (tho' next adjoining,) they shall not exceed two or three Foot; and ten Leagues out at Sea, (where no such Interruption is,) they become scarcely, if at all, perceptible.