cane was diverted from its proper course, in consequence of its coming up with the previous Barbadoes hurricane, which must have been opposite Chesapeake Bay, where it (the Antigua one) entered upon the coasts of Florida and Georgia by a more direct

course.

"At the upper part of chart VI.," says Colonel Reid, "is marked, by a dotted circle, the probable place where the first storm, the Barbadoes one, was proceeding toward Cape Hatteras on the 6th of August, at the time the second hurricane from Antigua was arriving on the coasts of Florida and Georgia. It will be easily understood with a little consideration, that if these storms were rotatory, when their tracks approach each other, the wind, as it blew in the first, would be reversed by the approach of the second, and thus we have a clew toward an explanation of the variable winds." Colonel Reid next proceeds to investigate the phenomena of another hurricane more extensive than the preceding, which the Felicity of Glasgow met at its commencement,* on the 12th of August, 1837, the period when the last Jamaica ships of the season are on their passage to England. Owing to this cause, the chart, No. VII., in which the path of this storm is exhibited, is crowded with vessels. About midnight, of the 14th of August, the Castries crossed the last portion of this storm, near the beginning of its path, in lat. 18 deg. N. and long. 60 deg. W. On the 15th the storm reached Turk's Island. On the 16th it was felt by the easternmost vessels off the Bahamas. On the 17th the Calypso was upset off Abasco, under circumstances of an appalling nature. When the ship was on its side, the captain and fourteen men, struggling for life, got over the main and mizen rigging just as the mast-heads went in the water. The ship was sinking fast. While some were cutting the weather-lanyards of the rigging, others were calling to God for mercy, and others stupified with despair; and two poor fellows, who had gone to stop the leak, were swimming in the hold. The mizen, main, and fore-masts went one after the other just as the vessel was going down head foremost. She then righted very slowly, and though the sea broke over the ship as over a log, and the main and bilge pumps were broken, yet every man was landed safe from the ship on the quay at Wilmington!

On

About midnight of the 18th August, in lat. 31 deg., the Rawlins, Captain Macqueen, seems to have been in the very vortex of the hurricane when it reached the apex of its parabolic course. the 17th the wind blew strong from the NE. by E. for twelve hours, then suddenly veered to the north, continuing with unabated vigor till the 18th at midnight, when, in an instant, a perfect calm ensued for one hour! Then "quick as thought the hurricane sprung up with tremendous force from the SW., no swell whatever preceding the convulsion." During the gale the barometer was almost invisible in the tube above the frame-work of the instrument. At midnight of August 19th the force of the wind subsided; a tremendous sea rose in every direction. The waves had no tops, being dispersed in one sheet of white foam-the decks were tenanted by many sea-birds in an exhausted state, seeking shelter in the vessel.

* In lat. 16 deg. 55 min. north, and long. 53 deg. 45 min. west.

During the day nothing could be discerned fifty yards distant. The wind represented numberless voices elevated to the shrillest tone of screaming. A few flashes of lightning occurred in the south-west, and a "dismal appearance" was seen in the NW., the direction in which the centre of the storm was moving.

The Duke of Manchester and the Palambam, which had been to the south of the first two hurricanes, were in the very heart of the present one. The Palambam foundered under a close-reefed topsail near the very centre of the storm, and the Duke of Manchester was with difficulty saved. During the hurricane, at one P. M. of the 17th, a most extraordinary phenomenon presented itself to windward, almost in an instant. It resembled a solid, black, perpendicular wall, about 15 deg. or 20 deg. above the horizon, and it disappeared almost in a moment. It then reappeared as suddenly, and in five seconds was broken, and spread as far as the eye could see. This "black squall" was described to Colonel Reid by Mr. Griffith "as the most appalling sight he had ever seen during his life at sea."*

On the 21st of August, the West Indian seems to have been in the centre of the hurricane, in lat. 38 deg. 23 min. N., and long. 62 deg. 40 min. At ten P. M. it blew a hurricane, and the ship was involved in a white smoke or fog, and the water as white as a sheet. At midnight it was nearly calm. At one A. M. it blew harder than ever. The sea was at times smooth; and on the 22d, at noon, the gale was at its height. The crew could not hear one another, and could scarcely see for the lashing of the rain and sleet.

On the 24th of August, when the preceding storm had passed the West Indian, a third rotatory hurricane was experienced on the 24th of August, farther south, by the Clydesdale, in lat. 32 deg. 21 min., and long. 59 deg.; by the Victoria, in lat. 32 deg. 30 min., and long. 54 deg. 30 min.; and by the Castries, in lat. 35 deg. and long. 58 deg. As the Castries experienced a sudden lull while close reefing her topsails, and as the wind was not only blowing violently, but veering rapidly at this time, she was probably, as Colonel Reid supposes, in the centre of a rotative storm. The Victoria was upset and dismasted, and abandoned on the 12th September; and the Clydesdale, after being hove on her beam ends, and remaining so for about two hours, righted as soon as her top-gallant masts and rigging had been cut away. This second example of one storm coming up with a preceding one, leads Colonel Reid to regard it as another" instance for an explanation of the variable winds, for the great storm would cause a westerly gale on the 22d over the same part of the ocean, where the smaller storms coming from the south

* An officer on board H. M. ship Tartarus, in describing the hurricane which overtook her on the American coast on the 26th of September, 1814, states, that after the hurricane had continued four hours with a mountainous sea, the barometer sunk beneath the wood of the frame, and the scenery of the sky became indescribable. "No horizon appeared, but only something resembling an immense wall within ten yards of the ship." The Tartarus was then laid on its beam ends, and the mizen and main top-masts were blown away, without any person hearing the crash. See Howard on the Climate of London, vol. ii, pp. 150, 151.

changed the wind to east. From this circumstance,” he continues, "no storm yet traced is of more interest than this.”

A fifth storm occurred in 1837. It came from the west, and has been traced back by Colonel Reid to Apalachicola and St. Marks, in the state of Alabama, where it did great mischief on the 31st of August. Thence it crossed over to Florida, entered the Atlantic, where the Calypso met it under jury-masts, and was obliged to anchor thirty miles to the south of Cape Fear. The Calypso received the wind first from the eastward. During the night of the 31st, it increased and backed into the northward; and at noon of the 1st September it blew a very heavy gale of wind, which, on the morning of the 2d, backed to the WNW., and moderated, thus exhibiting the character of a rotatory gale.

Colonel Reid now proceeds, in his sixth chapter, to consider the phenomena of storms in the southern hemisphere; and we do not hesitate to say that he has been as successful in his exposition of his views, as he has been indefatigable in the collection of his materials. He has established, we think, in a very satisfactory manner, the rotatory and progressive character of the southern hurricanes; and has confirmed in every case the sagacious conjecture of Mr. Redfield—that in hurricanes which take place on the south of the equator, the revolving mass moves from left to right, in a direction opposite to that of the northern hurricanes. In this chapter the observations on the barometer are more numerous and accurate; and such is the regularity with which the mercury falls till the middle of the storm has passed, and rises till the storm is entirely over, that Colonel Reid considers this fact as of itself a proof that storms revolve during their progress.

The hurricanes and gales which Colonel Reid has treated of in this chapter are the following:

1. The Mauritius hurricanes of 1818, 1819, 1824, 1834, 1836. 2. The Culloden's storm, 1809.

3. The Boyne gale, 1835.

4. The Albion's hurricane, 1808.

5. The Mauritius gales of 1811. 6. The Blenheim's storm, 1807.

7. The Bridgewater's hurricane, 1830. 8. The Neptune's storm, 1835.

9. The Ganges' storm, 1837.

It is a circumstance which deserves to be noticed, that all the preceding hurricanes, thirteen in number, took place, with the exception of three, in the vicinity of the Mauritius and Madagascar ; and hence we see the truth of the opinion which prevails among seamen, that hurricanes are frequently avoided by ships steering on a course, so as to keep well to the eastward of the Mauritius. The three exceptions to this rule are the Albion's hurricane, which took place in 5 deg. of south lat., and in 90 deg. of east long., about 30 deg. to the east of the Mauritius-the Bridgewater's hurricane, which happened in lat. 21 deg. south, and long. 90 deg. west; and the Ganges' storm, which was experienced in lat, 3 deg. 5 min., and long. 90 deg. west. Notwithstanding these, and of course many other exceptions, the region of the Mauritius may be regarded as

the focus of the hurricanes of the southern hemisphere; in the same manner as the West Indies and the Atlantic coast of North America is the focus of the northern storms.

The most desolating hurricanes on record have certainly had their origin, and expended their fury, in these two regions; and though there appear to be no circumstances connected with the distribution of terrestrial heat, magnetism, or electricity, which would lead us to consider these localities as the probable birth-place of storms, yet we may expect to form some rational hypothesis on the subject when our knowledge of the interior condition of the earth shall be more advanced; and when we shall have studied with better materials the connection which seems to exist between the convulsions of our atmosphere, and the phenomena of earthquakes and volcanic action.

The only one of all these storms which Colonel Reid has had materials enough for projecting satisfactorily is the storm experienced in March, 1809, by the East India fleet, under the convoy of the Culloden line-of-battle ship. Four of the company's ships, and H. M. brig-of-war Harriet foundered in this storm; the details of which are peculiarly interesting and pregnant with instruction. At the Court of Inquiry which investigated these losses, most of the commanders speak of two distinct storms; but Colonel Reid's chart proves that the second storm was only the second branch of the parabolic route of the storm into which the Huddart sailed, after crossing the narrow and peaceful area which was interposed between the two branches. In this pacific spot, the William Pitt, Harriet, and Euphrates enjoyed two days of fine weather in consequence of lying to; and a similar advantage was enjoyed by the Northumberland, Indus, and Sovereign, which, by lying to, got out of the violence of the hurricane. The Sir William Bensley, on the contrary, and the St. Vincent, by running a day's sail a-head of the above seven ships, involved themselves in fresh misfortunes; and the former was hence compelled to lie to on the 17th for twentyone hours under bare poles. The Culloden and the Terpsichore frigate scudded like the Bensley, and the four missing Indiamen followed her. The Culloden stood on, and got out of the storm on the 18th, while the Terpsichore, in consequence of having lain to on the 15th for sixteen hours, was longer exposed to danger. The four missing ships were all seen on the 15th, and if they put before the wind, they must have rushed into the heart of the storm and perished.*

Colonel Reid proceeds, in his seventh chapter, to treat of the typhoons in the Chinese Sea, and the hurricanes of India, particularly the Bengal ones; and though the accounts he has been able to procure are, as he says, "neither in sufficient number, nor sufficiently connected to be satisfactory; yet, in as far as they go, they exhibit the same character as the storms of northern latitudes. During preceding hurricanes, the barometer does not seem to have fallen lower than 27.52 inches, which was its height at Port Louis at 2 P. M. on the 6th of March, during the Mauritius hurricane of 1836; it fell at Saugar on the 21st May, 1833, at 11 A. M., to a * No electrical phenomena seem to have been noticed in any of the thirteen storms excepting that of the Boyne.

point lower than 26.50 inches, the mercury having been so low as to be invisible.*

The most deeply interesting portion of Colonel Reid's work is his eighth chapter, in which he treats of the hurricanes of 1780; two of the most tremendous visitations of physical power which have been let loose upon our globe. The first of these hurricanes took place on the 3d October. After the tempest had abated, the sea exhibited an awful scene. The waves swelled to an amazing height, rushed with indescribable impetuosity on the land, and over. whelmed the town of Savannah le Mar. When the waters began to abate, a most severe shock of an earthquake was felt. At Mon. tego Bay prodigious flashes of lightning regularly succeeded each other, and proved a real blessing amid the midnight darkness which brooded over the general desolation. The centre of the hurricane passed over H. M. S. Badger, then commanded by the late Lord Collingwood. H. M. ships the Phoenix, Scarborough, Barbadoes, and Victor were lost.

This hurricane was succeeded on the 18th October by the great one of 1780; which Colonel Reid has been able to lay down in his ninth and last chart. It originated to the SE. of Barbadoes, and followed a parabolic course, the revolving mass of air expanding as it advanced. It did not, however, reach the American coast, in consequence of its turning north earlier than usual, the apex of its course being in about 23 deg. of N. lat. At Barbadoes the inhabitants deserted their houses, and took shelter during the night in the fields, exposed to thunder, lightning, and rain. A ship was dashed on shore against one of the buildings of the Naval Hospital; and the bodies of men and cattle were lifted from the ground, and carried many yards. The trees were uprooted, all the fruits of the earth ruined, and more than three thousand of the inhabitants destroyed. At St. Eustatia seven ships were dashed to pieces on the rocks, and their crews lost. The houses were either blown down, or washed, with their inhabitants, into the sea, and about six thousand people were destroyed. At Martinique four ships foundered in Port Royal Bay, and their crews perished. Every house in St. Kitt's was blown down, and one thousand persons destroyed. At Port Royal one thousand four hundred houses were blown down, and about one thousand six hundred sick and wounded were almost all buried in the ruins of the Hospital of Notre Dame. At Barbadoes, the condition of the governor, Mr. Cunningham and his family, was deplorable; though the walls of the government house were three feet thick, and the doors and windows had been barricaded, the wind forced its way into every part, and tore off most of the roof. The governor and his family retreated to the cellar, from which they were expelled by the entrance of the water, and the tumbling of the ruins. They then fled to the ruins of the foundation of the flag-staff, and when these gave way also the party dispersed. The governor and the few that remained were thrown down, and with difficulty reached the cannon, under the carriages of which

"The oil in the sympiesometer retired completely when the mercury in the barometer disappeared, and rose again a little before it." P. 271.

Owing to this cause, the Bermudas were included in the hurricane, though they escaped from all those projected by Mr. Redfield,