814) Mr Redfield's Obsei'vations on the 



lying to with her head to the northward, may by that means 

 be brought to intersect the storm on the line hi, at the point i, 

 would suddenly be taken aback, with the wind, say at N.N. W., 

 as in the case of the Jamaica homeward-bound fleet in 1782, 

 and the barometer, which reaches its lowest depression under 

 the central portion of the storm, would about this period be 

 found to have commenced rising with some degree of rapidity. 



A further reference to the figure will shew that a ship, which 

 may be at the point G during the passage of the gale, would 

 be exposed to a heavy swell from the southward and westward ; 

 but, being beyond the organized limits of the storm, may re- 

 main entirely unaffected by the violence of the wind, which at 

 the same time may be raging with destructive fury at the dis- 

 tance of a few leagues. The writer has knowledge of many 

 such examples. 



It has been suggested that " the larboard tack is the proper 

 one to lie to on, as the wind will then be found to draw aft ;'" 

 but this will frequently prove erroneous, as the wind may draw 

 either way, on either tack, according to the position and course 

 of the ship, in the storm, and the extent and rate of progress 

 of the latter. In the case of the fleet which encountered the 

 gale of 1782, it was probably the best course to carry sail to 

 the northward at the very commencement of the gale and as 

 far and as long as possible. By this means the fleet mig" t , 

 perhaps, have been drawn as far northward as the point A on 

 the figure, and the change of wind to the northward and west- 

 ward would have been rendered more gradual. The chief dif- 

 ficulty and danger, is when the direction of the wind at the first 

 setting in of the gale, is found to be nearly at right angles with 

 the known courses of the storms in the region where the gale 

 is encountered, and it is then desirable to pursue such a course 

 as to avoid, if possible, falling into the heart of the storm. 



It frequently happens that a storm, during the first part of 

 its progress over a given point, fails to take effect upon the sur- 

 face, while it exhibits its full activity at a greater altitude. 

 This commonly happens when this portion of the storm arrives 

 from, or has recently blown over, a moi'e elevated country, or is 

 passing or blowing from the land to the sea. On land, the 

 most violent effects are usually felt from those storms which 



