THE BAHAMA ISLANDS I'^S 



the continent, and many of those of July and September recurve on the coast of 

 Texas. 



The laiv of general routes or geographical zones pursued by hurricanes. — It 

 must, of course, be admitted that the tropical cyclones do not form indefinitely at 

 any point within the tropical zones, but that they single out, in preference, for 

 their formation and development, particular and definite regions in those zones. 

 The following geographical conditions, generally, and in a more or less perfect 

 degree, distinguish the cyclonic regions within the Tropics: Large continents lie 

 to the west, indented by numerous gulfs and bays whose coasts run more or less 

 northward and southward, with vast and extensive seas to the east, overspread 

 commonly with numerous islands. Such at any rate are the features that in a 

 more or less perfect degree concur in the cyclonic regions of the Philippine Isles 

 and in the China Sea, in the seas of India, and also in the Southern Hemisphere, 

 in the region situated east of Africa, in the vicinity of the islands of Madagascar, 

 Mauritius, Reunion, Rodriguez, etc. But of all the cyclonic regions within the 

 intertropical zone the one which more perfectly and grandly combined all these 

 conditions is the great " Bay of North America," with its wide Atlantic Ocean 

 extending to the east as far as the coast of Africa and to the northeast as far as 

 the coast of Europe and the northern seas. In my opinion this contributes much 

 to the grandeur and regularity of the immense paths of the West Indian cyclones. 

 A cyclone of August or September may form in the vicinity of the Cape Verde 

 Islands, near the coast of Africa, or to the east of the Lesser Antilles, cross the 

 Atlantic along the first branch of its track, and recurve either in the Gulf of 

 Charleston or on the coast of Texas. In the latter case it may cross the United 

 States in the direction of Cape Hatteras, sweep, with renewed strength and velocity, 

 a second time across the Atlantic, in a northeastward direction, and enter Europe 

 or be lost in the northern seas. We have, then, a series of cyclones which describe 

 immense tracks over many thousands of miles with admirable regularity and 

 normality, and subject to general laws. This is truly surprising and astounding. 

 I do not believe that on the face of the globe there is another region where cyclones 

 are met with that can compare with those of the West Indies, or, rather, I should 

 say, with those of the great Bay of North America. Neither is there within the 

 whole intertropical zone a grander bay than this one, nor one which offers more 

 favorable conditions for the development and onward progress of gyratory storms. 



The Bay of North America comprises, as I understand, that part of the Atlantic 

 to the west of the fifty-fifth meridian (longitude west of Greenwich) from New- 

 foundland to Dutch Guiana. It is bounded on the east by the said meridian and 

 on the north, west and south by the coasts of Newfoundland, Labrador, and Gulf 

 of St. Lawrence, by the coasts of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea 

 from Yucatan to Dutch Guiana. It embraces the West Indies, the Caribbean Sea. 

 the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, the Bermudas, and the Gulfs of Charleston and 

 of the St. Lawrence. 



Law of the relative velocity of translation. — We can divide the cyclonic track 

 into three parts: First branch; recurve; second branch. Having made this divi- 

 sion, I shall now formulate the law. In the first branch of the track, from the 

 origin of the cyclone to the vicinity of the recurve, the velocity of translation is 

 generally slightly on the increase. In the vicinity of the recurve the hurricane 

 moderates the velocity of its advance, which reaches its minimum in the recurve. 

 Finally, the velocity of translation is rapidly on the increase in the second branch, 

 and attains a maximum of moi-e than 30 and even 40 miles per hour." 



