EPISODES 239 



into pieces. First the branches were broken off with a 

 crackling noise; then went the upper parts of the massy 

 trunks; and in many places whole trees of gigantic size were 

 falling entire to the ground. So rapid was the progress 

 of the storm that before I could think of taking measures 

 to insure my safety the hurricane was passing opposite the 

 place where I stood. Never can I forget the scene which 

 at that moment presented itself. The tops of the trees 

 were seen moving in the strangest manner, in the central 

 current of the tempest, which carried along with it a min- 

 gled mass of twigs and foliage that completely obscured 

 the view. Some of the largest trees were seen bending 

 and writhing under the gale; others suddenly snapped 

 across; and many, after a momentary resistance, fell up- 

 rooted to the earth. The mass of branches, twigs, foliage, 

 and dust that moved through the air was whirled onwards 

 like a cloud of feathers, and on passing disclosed a wide 

 space filled with fallen trees, naked stumps, and heaps of 

 shapeless ruins which marked the path of the tempest. 

 This space was about a fourth of a mile in breadth, and to 

 my imagination resembled the dried up bed of the Mis- 

 sissippi, with its thousands of planters and sawyers strewed 

 in the sand and inclined in various degrees. The horrible 

 noise resembled that of the great cataracts of Niagara, and, 

 as it howled along in the track of the desolating tempest, 

 produced a feeling in my mind which it were impossible 

 to describe. 



The principal force of the hurricane was now over, 

 although millions of twigs and small branches that had 

 been brought from a great distance were seen following 

 the blast, as if drawn onwards by some mysterious power. 

 They even floated in the air for some hours after, as if 

 supported by the thick mass of dust that rose high above 

 the ground. The sky had now a greenish lurid hue, and 

 an extremely disagreeable sulphurous odor was diffused 

 in the atmosphere. I waited in amazement, having sus- 



