Chart of the Gulf Stream. Published in the March 1789 issue of the American Museum or Universal Magazine
Franklin, Benjamin ? (1706-1790)
1789

This is probably the 4th map of the Gulf Stream attributed to Franklin. The 1769 was on a map of the Atlantic Ocean by Mount and Page of England. The second was a copy of that made by Le Rouge in Paris in 1782. The third is the 1786 Franklin/Folger map engraved by Poupard and published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Volume II in Philadelphia. This one is similar to the Poupard and Le Rouge maps, showing only one path of the stream and no contact with Europe of Africa. The east coast of North America is shown with all the colonies except Vermont. The only name in the stream is at the Gulf of Florida. Speed of the flow is shown in "minutes."

According to some, this is the chart quoted in Wheat & Brun as "it has been (here) superimposed upon a better chart of the North America coast." and is based on the 1786 map.

Within the stream are printed "4 minutes, 3 1/2 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 1/2 minutes, 2 minutes" and arrows. A "minute" probably corresponds to "knot" or one nautical mile per hour. This means that the speed decreases as you leave the narrow straights of Florida and reach the wider stream in the north Atlantic. This is copied from the previous charts.