A , seas 
e 
The Northers identical with Storms of the Cnited States. 165 
the violent north winds in the obighibatieed of Vera Cruz, are 
frequently no other than the left hand side of rotatory storms, in 
their northerly progress across the Gut of Mexico.”* In this re- 
mark I fully concur. 
Identity of Mexican Northers with the Storms of the United 
States. 
When I first ascertained that many of the hurricanes of the 
West Indies, had visited the Atlantic coast of the United States, 
and that here they had severally exhibited the common charac- 
ters either of southeasters or northeasters, according as one or 
another part of the storm was presented to our observation, it 
became alike evident, that.our storms were far more numerous 
and frequent than the hurricanes of the West Indies. It was 
known, also, that the Mexican Northers were of very frequent 
occurrence, d our most stormy seasons of the year; while 
it seemed at least probable, that all great storms were governed 
by one and the same law, deriving their origin from the lower 
latitudes. 
But the promurnptida naturally arose, that the courses of these 
Northers would be found generally parallel with the routes of the 
several storms which had been traced from the West Indies to 
our Atlantic coast, and that hence, they would, in most cases, 
prove to be identical with the storms that are found west of 
the Alleghanies, which sweep over the interior of the United 
States and the British provinces ;—and to a large extent this is 
doubtless true. But the absence of sufficient observations from 
beyond the Mississippi, together with the inert character of many 
storms and the always more intangible or indistinct character of 
such as pursue their course overland, has hitherto prevented their 
direct identification with the Mexican Northers by consecutive 
observations. Nor was I sufficiently aware that the easterly pro- 
gression of some of these Northers commenced in lower latitudes 
tap} in the previously observed cases of the West India hurri- 
“in cod 1837, the steamboat Home was wrecked near Cape 
Hatteras, and having afterwards occasion to investigate the causes 
of this disaster, I found that the catastrophe occurred toward the 
close of a northeast gale, that had previously visited the western 
*s j edition of “Attempt to develop th Lawer nace ” &c. London, 1841. 
