254 Account of a Hurricane at Shelbyville, Tenn. 
ley of the Mississippi that there is a constant current of air setting 
in from the Gulf and blowing up our water courses. This is occa- 
sionally interrupted for a few days by a wind ina contrary direction, 
accompanied usually by rain. Probably this is only an apparent 
variation produced by the gyral motion of the wind operating on a 
very large and extended scale. The smaller gyrations which pro- 
duce our thunder gusts and tornadoes come very sensibly from the 
southwest. It will be seen from an inspection of the map of North 
America, that the mountains of Tennessee present the first obstruc- 
tion which this great southwestern current of air meets with in its 
progress across our continent. That country is in a position which, 
while it catches and is refreshed by the softest zephyrs and the most 
refreshing showers of this great atmospheric current, likewise ex- 
poses it to the first rude blasts of its angry tempests. More than 
any other portion of the United States it bears on its bosom the scars 
of many an awful contest with this tremendous power, and its up- 
rooted forests tell us too plainly the overwhelming force of the un- 
conquered enemy. 
The writer had an opportunity of witnessing one of those awfully 
grand and terrific convulsions of the atmosphere, which nearly de- 
stroyed the town of Shelbyville, in the month of June, 1830. For 
some days previous to the catastrophe the air had been unusually 
calm, sultry, and oppressive. It was a very fortunate circumstance 
for the inhabitants of the village that they were reposing quietly im 
their beds when the tornado swept over them. Had it occurred in 
the day time, when the people were moving about, and when the 
ors and windows were all open, the loss of life must have been 
much greater. It may be well to remark here, that it was found 
from the experience of that night, that the complete closing of doors 
and windows, so as to exclude the external atmosphere, was of the 
utmost importance. Not a house stood, whose doors and windows 
were left open, or were too weak to resist the impulse of the wind. 
On the night of the storm at Shelbyville, a strong western gale blew 
throughout the State of Tennessee, and several distinct gyrations 
were formed in different portions of the current. The town of 
Charlotte, sixty miles northwest from Shelbyville, was blown down 
two hours before the destruction of the latter. Another gyration 
took place twenty miles northeast of Shelbyville, which destroyed @ 
farm, and was equally violent with that at Shelbyville. The clouds 
began to cluster in the west, and the wind to blow, at an early hour 
