TITE INDIAN OCEAN. 



345 



nomena, waterspouts. These are, perhaps, the most 

 majestic of all those "works of the Lord, and his 

 wonders in the deep," which they behold who " go 

 down to the sea in ships." They frequently appear 

 as perpendicular columns, apparently of many hun- 

 dred feet in height, and three feet or more in dia- 

 meter, reaching from the surface of the sea to the 

 clouds. The edge of the pillar is perfectly clean 

 and well-defined, and the effect has been compared 

 to a column of frosted glass. A series of spiral 



Waterspouts. 



lines run around it, and the whole has a rapid spiral 

 motion, which is very apparent, though it is not 

 always easy to determine whether it is an ascending 

 or descending line. Generally, the body of clouds 



