CLOUDS 75 



are greatly disturbed, and one seems to be looking upwards 

 into a vortex. There is usually a central area to which 

 ragged pieces of cloud drift from all directions, only to 

 be torn into shreds and vanish as if they had gone up a 

 chimney. These overhead disturbances may be accom- 

 panied by no disturbance whatever at earth level, where 

 the sun shines and a fine weather breeze blows as usual. 

 Sometimes the edges of the clouds at the centre of these 

 storms may be wonderfully rainbow tinted, although no 

 rain reaches earth. On Damba Island in June 1911 was 

 seen one evening a wonderful cloudscape to the East. 

 Low down, over the mainland, were the usual lumpy 

 cumuli, and to the right these merged into nimbus. 

 Converging to a point on the horizon between these were 

 two broad filmy streaks, above and transverse to which 

 were bars of cirro-stratus. This cloud complex was the 

 forerunner of the highest wind I had experienced on the 

 islands up to that time ; it began at midnight and re- 

 peatedly awakened me : by mid-day the blue lake was 

 whitened with curling wave crests, and drifting purple 

 and green cloud shadows made lovely contrasts of colour. 

 Since I was very dependent on the state of the weather 

 for my work outdoors, I took some interest in the signs, 

 and an account of what was learnt may be of interest. 



Firstly, the meteorological signs. 



There were the usual general signs, such as cirrus or 

 cirro-stratus clouds and clearness of atmosphere, heralding 

 storms ; heat haze in fine weather, etc. 



The approach of the rainy season is preceded by cloud 

 funnels, which appear in all stages from a nipple shaped 

 process at the lower edge of a ragged cloud, to a complete 

 pillar connecting cloud and lake, called by the natives 

 " Omusoke." From Entebbe, looking out over the 

 lake, a great number of these are seen, and they are 

 commonly called waterspouts, but I have never been 

 near enough to make out whether they correspond to 

 waterspouts at sea. 



