496 A. K Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



Thunder showers are very common, and they occur in all months 

 of the year, but they are usually of short duration, though some- 

 times very violent. 



b. — Winds; Hurricanes; Gales. 



The climate must be considered as decidedly windy, as the tables 

 will show. Perfectly calm days are of rare occurrence, except during 

 the summer months, when there will sometimes be several perfectly 

 calm days in succession, but a few nearly calm days usually occur in 

 each month. The mean annual velocity is eight to nine miles per 

 hour. Strong gales and severe storms are not uncommon in the 

 cooler months, from November to April, but the very destructive 

 cyclonic hurricanes that have occasionally visited the islands, gen- 

 erally occur in August or September, more rarely in October and 

 November. 



One of the most violent hurricanes on record occurred in the nisrht, 

 Sept. 12, 1899. This did very great damage to the trees and to 

 property, but no lives were lost. It carried away most of the long 

 stone causeway from the Main Island to St. George's, and greatly 

 damaged the wharves and buildings at St. George's. It also did 

 great damage to the causeway and other works at Ireland Island, 

 and at other places at that end of the islands. (See p. 442.) 



Another hurricane of nearly the same character, and perhaps of 

 even greater violence, visited the islands just 60 years earlier, on 

 Sept. 11 and 12, 1S39. That storm also did great damage by uproot- 

 ing large numbers of trees and unroofing and blowing down houses. 

 Similar hurricanes are several times recorded in the early settlement 

 of Bermuda. 



One in Governor Moore's time, 1612, blew down his framed church 

 and did other damage. A severe storm is mentioned in 1615. 



Captain John Smith stated that in the last of November, 1619, 

 there was a "terrible Hencano " which "blew up great trees by the 

 roots." The magazine ship " Warwick" was wrecked in the harbor,* 

 and the " Garland " was only saved by cutting away her masts. A 

 little later in the same season there was another similar storm which 

 blew down the new lookout tower and blasted the entire crop of corn. 



* The Rev. Mr. Hughes in 1620 referred to this wreck as follows : " Consider 

 also the goodnes of God in preserving all shippes belonging to these Hands so as 

 none have beene cast away neither going nor coming: true it is that this last yeare 

 1019 a ship was cast away, not going nor coming, but riding at anker in the 

 harbour." 



