94 



scarcity of laud. There is less need for Nature to take 

 violent measures for equalising the temj^erature and dis- 

 persing her water-treasures over thirsty continents, but we 

 look out for storms in the neighbourhood of Cape Horn, and 

 we meet them in our South Australian seas. We may not 

 yet, and may never fully, comprehend the nature of these 

 great forces which restore the equilibrium that has 

 been disturbed, but without the help of the mon- 

 soons. I think that this description given us by Capt. 

 Chandler seems to point to a cyclone of diminutive dimen- 

 sions. It has been laid down as a characteristic of a cyclone 

 that its centre bears about eight points from the direction 

 of the \iind on the jDort side, in the Northern Hemisphere, 

 and on the starboard side in the Southern Hemisphere. 

 Since, however, " the spirally increasing movement of the 

 wind " has been regarded as the true character of a cyclone, 

 it is said that the true position should be 2 or 3 points 

 ahead of the position assumed by the old rule. If we 

 examine the ship's course as indicated in Captain Chandler's 

 drawing, we shall find that the behaviour of the ship was such 

 as to establish the true character of the storm he met with 

 between our homes and New Zealand. It establishes, more- 

 over, my theory that the storms between ourselves and New 

 Zealand come from a conflict between the W. and E. winds, 

 or rather combination, the W. trade wind being drawn in 

 summer to Australia, and the E. or S.E. rushing after it. 

 The subject deserves very careful observation, and it would 

 be well for nautical science if our intelligent captains would 

 register and forward to the Eoyal Society all the observed 

 phenomena of cyclonic disturbance, noting the rate of 

 movement, and the j^lace and time of their occun-ence. The 

 more carefully and frequently such observations are made, 

 at the present time, when the alphabet of weather prophecy 

 is being mastered, the more trustworthy will be the 

 prophecies and the warnings in the future, involving fewer 

 failures, for the guidance and the preservation of our sailors 

 and fishermen. 



The science of weather j^redictions is making, I hope, sure 

 but slow progress. The greatest care should be exercised. 

 False prophecies, trusted to, entail great loss of time and 

 money to the fishing fleet ; true ones, despised, may entail 

 the loss of the fleet itself. 



The following is the communication received from Captain 

 Chandler : — 



"On the morning of Nov. 9th, 1874, from the appearance of 

 the weather, the aotion of the barometer, and the change in 

 the wind, I felt fully convinced that the ship was in the 

 south-east quadrant of a light cyclone, and I at once pro- 



