478 METEOROLOGY. 



following' gale inspired us all ; sails were reduccfl, or partly so, by tlie aid of 

 the storm, the flapping of the canvas, torn to ribbons by the rage of the tempest, 

 the lond thunder, the occasional flashes of lightning-, the rising of a tremendous 

 wave, showing first its white foaming crest far off on the horizon, and then 

 drawing nearer and nearer, till you might almost fancy it w^ould instantly engulf 

 us, but our gallant craft rose nobly to the crest of the surge. All this was a 

 spectacle wild and fearful to behold, but in its very wildncss grand and sublime. 

 Then, I may say, the metal of our crew was tried, and the true sailors, botli 

 among officers and men, were foimd ; but alas! how few, out of that great 

 number! They worked liard, sending down masts and yards, repairing or bend- 

 ing the storm-sails, or standing at the pumps, knee-deep in water, that washed 

 unceasingly over the decks. Daylight showed us at last the extent of the dam- 

 ages the vessel had sustained ; the paddle-boxes, the roundhouses were smashed 

 in and washed away, the rail forward was stove in, and the heavy one-inch iron 

 plates M'cre bent double, the ring-bolts to which the heavy pivot guns were 

 secured started from the deck, and the guns threatened with each roll to break 

 adrift from their lashings ; a temporary lull in the gale gave us time to secure 

 them, and repair damages a little. Everybody hoped for good weather, as the 

 heavy rain which fell dining four or five hours beat the sea down considerably, 

 but on the evening of the 7th the stomi commenced again. A red lurid light 

 spread all over the sky, and shortly after the setting of the sun the ocean became 

 furious once more. A tremendous sea breaking over the starboard bow swept 

 everything before it, tearing away the gratings of the hatches, breaking the 

 after sky-lights, and rushing down into the ward-room and cabin, floating and 

 drenching everything and everybody. The tiller ropes having been carried 

 away, tlie ship, paying off before the wind, became unmanageable ; the guys of 

 the smoke-stack having broken, it was feared that the heavy mass of iron would 

 descend upon us, smashing everything; the ship then coming to again filled her 

 decks with water, and leaning over to port, remained so long in that position 

 that even the stoutest heart quailed, and anxiously counted the seconds till at 

 last the ship rose gallantly again on the crest of the next wave; luckily the sea 

 having stove in the lower ports, the immense quantity of water found a ready 

 egress from her decks, and the vessel, lightened of her weight, rolled lcs« heavily; 

 new wheel-ropes were rove, and the storm having spent its fmy abated greatly. 

 In the morning a heavy shower of rain smoothed down the sea considerably, 

 and a little before six o'clock the sun rose red and gloriously in the east, in a 

 fair and cloudless sky. The danger passed, the heavy puffing and snorting of 

 the powerful engine showed that the good ship was once more speeding onward, 

 gracefully throwing the splashing, glittering spray from her bow back into the 

 conquered ocean. 



Taking a scientific view of huricanes and cyclones, and the management of 

 vessels therein, it is clear that there are three ways of managing a ship in or at 

 the approach of a cyclone : First, in order to avoid the same, (in case there is 

 plenty of sea room,) the vessel should be hove to on the proper tack. Second, 

 if a ship is caught inside of a storm disk, the only chances to be adopted are, 

 running before the wind, or heaving the ship to, and the latter, when on account 

 of the high or cross seas the safety of the ship is endangered, the only course 

 left is to run before the wind in a tangent direction toward the inner storm disk, 

 and then gradually to edge ofl' to the outer limits of the cyclone ; and lastl}', by 

 running on the outside of the wind's circle, and even profit by it. But the ques- 

 tion is, how to know the approach of a cyclone, how to find the proper bearings 

 of its centre. Considering then every cyclone as a great whirlwind, the direc- 

 tion of every wind as a rotary, of which the outer part is a common close-reefed 

 topsail breeze, such as seamen do not care for, and by w-hich no seaworthy' ship 

 is injured, but the violence of the wind increases with great rapidity as the centre 

 is approached, till close or in it, when it becomes of a destructive fury, and even 



