544 Voyage of the Novara. 



ship, while the foam flew high up upon the mast. The waves 

 crossed each other in every direction, huge conical masses 

 rising suddenly to a height of 25 or 30 feet, as far as one 

 might guess, and then as suddenly subsiding. It was the 

 genuine pyramidal sea of the true cyclone, of which vessels 

 caught in these furious circular storms are even more aj)pre- 

 hensive than the fury and strength of the hurricane. 



The wind, which now began to draw to the westward, in- 

 dicated that thus far we had shaped a proper course, and that 

 the course of the cyclone lay towards the N. W. Under these 

 circumstances it was deemed most prudent to make the Mari- 

 anne Islands, and to avail ourselves even of the hurricane in 

 order to perform a rapid voyage. We accordingly now laid 

 our course to steer S.E. by S., through the centre of the 

 channel south of the Loo-Choo Islands. Considering the 

 width, 120 nautical miles, of this channel, there was reason 

 to hope that, despite the errors in reckoning which were to 

 be expected amid so many manoeuvres, and considering the 

 impossibility of getting astronomical observations, and the 

 influence of the sort of currents which those hurricanes 

 usually set in motion for a short period, we might make our 

 way through it in safety. 



The wind remained steadily in the N.W., and at first was 

 on our port quarter. Towards noon, however, it came round 

 to N.W. by W., so that we were now running dead before it. 

 We now set double-reefed foresail so as to make quicker 

 progress. Towards 6 p.m. the hurricane woke up to its full 



