io HISTORY OF THE [BOOK. r. 



deluges the earth at this season: by an exact account 

 -which was kept of the perpendicular height of the wa- 

 ter which fell in one year in Barbadoes (and that no 

 ways remarkable) it appeared to have been equal to 

 .ty-seven cubical inches. 



It is now, in the interval between the beginning 



' O O 



of August and the latter end of October, that hurri- 

 canes, those dreadful visitations of the Almighty, are 

 apprehended. The prognostics of these elementary 

 conflicts, have been minutely described by various 

 writers, and their effects are known by late mournful 

 experience to every inhabitant of every island within 

 the tropics,, but their immediate cause seems to lie 

 far beyond the limits of our circumscribed knowledge. 



Towards the end of November, or sometimes not 

 till the middle of December, a considerable change 

 in the temperature of the air is perceivable. The 

 coasts to the northward are now beaten by a rough 

 and heavy sea, roaring with incessant noise ; the wind 

 varies from the east to the north-east and north, some- 

 times driving before it, across the highest mountains, 

 not only heavy rains but hail ; till at length, the north 

 wind having acquired sufficient force, the atmosphere 

 is cleared; and now comes on a succession of serene 

 and pleasant weather, the north-east and northerly 

 winds spreading coolness and delight throughout the 

 whole of this burning region. 



O O 



If this interval, therefore, from the beginning ot 

 December to the end of April, be called winter, it is 



