Classical compass winds local reference to a seaborne breeze. Vitruvius's 24-wind list does not seem to have impressed later Roman writers (Seneca, Pliny, etc.), who all went back to 12- or 8-wind systems. Vitruvius's treatment has a touch of carelessness. He does not bother assigning Latin-to-Greek equivalents, give variants or provide any descriptions of the winds. It seems as if he is merely making a long list of all the wind names he has heard, giving each their own separate position in a single system, regardless of duplication. The shifts of some old Greek winds (Boreas, Eurus, Argestes, Leuconotos) into non-traditional positions (sometimes
HMS Boreas (1774) station. Horatio Nelson (who was created 1st Viscount Nelson 1801) was Senior Naval Officer of the Leeward Islands from 1784 to 1787 on the Boreas. The Boreas was used as a slop ship from 1797 until its breakup. HMS Boreas (1774) HMS "Boreas" was a modified sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was first commissioned in August 1775 under Captain Charles Thompson. On 31 August 1779 "Boreas", under the command of Captain Charles Thompson, captured the French corvette "Compas", of eighteen 6-pounder guns, which was carrying a cargo of sugar. "Compas", which was armed "en flute", put up resistance