22 Supposed Connection of Meteoric Phenomena, 



followed, ice near London, and snow on the Welsh and 

 Cumberland mountains. 



Aug. 31., 1816, was as remarkable as Aug. 31., 1833. On 

 that day occurred a dreadful hurricane along the eastern and 

 southern coasts of England, occasioning many awful wrecks. 

 At Ramsgate, it blew from n.n.w., with a very high sea; at 

 Margate, from n.e. ; while, at Dover, the wind was west. It 

 may be here again noticed that Vesuvius was in eruption on 

 Aug. 7.; and, on the 13th, earthquakes were felt all over 

 Scotland.* (See M. N. H., vii. 303.) 



The gales of Aug. 1833, amongst the severest ever known 

 in these latitudes, commenced in the same manner on Aug. 20., 

 in the s.w. ; and gradually came round to w.n.w. and n.e., till 

 the end of the first week in September, occasioning, by their 

 violence, the loss of no less than 106 British vessels, besides 

 foreigners. 



The gales of Aug. 30-31. offer two other characters cor- 

 responding with those of the hurricane. " All hurricanes," 

 it is said, in the West Indies, " happen on the day of ihefull, 

 change, or quarters of the moon ; " " the sea smelling stronger 

 than at other times." f 



Now, it happened that the moon was full on Aug. 30. 

 1833; and the fishermen of Boulogne predicted the storm 

 ten hours before its arrival, because they perceived an odd 

 smell from the sea, and an unusual agitation on its surface, 

 though there was then no gale to disturb it. They conceived 

 that a dreadful storm raged 40 leagues to the westward, and 

 would be with them in the evening. J The loss of the Am- 

 phitrite will long make the remembrance of this hurricane a 

 painful one. Off Shetland, the gale varied from n. by e. to 

 s. by w. Between 12 and 8 a.m. of Aug. 26., the barometer, 

 off Shetland, rose; but sank ljin. before noon of the 27th. 

 The sea was tremendously high ; ships from Archangel were 

 driven into the harbours for shelter. § On the 31st, at Lime- 

 rick, Captain Kater observed the southern end of the diurnal 



* A similar hurricane occurred in some places, extending to Scotland, 

 varying from s.e. to s.w., with lightning, thunder, &c, on March 5. 1818, 

 during an eruption of Vesuvius. 



J Letter from Captain Langford to Mr. Bonavert. (P. T., 1698.) 

 The agitation of the sea, together with the setting of the sun in a red 

 haze, are prognostics of a gale of wind. 



§ The effects of this hurricane, on the woods along the coast, have been 

 frequently noticed : I was surprised, however, recently, to see the trees, in 

 the deep and sheltered valley of Rodborough, near Stroudwater, without 

 their tops, which were snapped off by the wind during this hurricane. 

 With what violence must it have rushed up through the indentations in the 

 Cotteswoldes ! 



