ATLANTIC CYCLONES 



On the 19th the barometer, which, in spite of a 

 gentle breeze from south-west, had stood as high as 

 3040, fell about a quarter of an inch between sunrise 

 and sunset ; and in the night, on the only occasion 

 during the entire voyage, remained for some hours 

 below 3000. A moderate breeze from the north brought 

 with it a disproportionately heavy sea, and although 

 there was no sensible pitching, the ship rolled so 

 heavily as to send many of the passengers to solitary 

 confinement in their berths. This continued through- 

 out the 20th, afterwards styled Black Monday by the 

 sufferers from sea-sickness, and we escaped into 

 smoother water only on the evening of the following 

 day. The discomfort which I felt from fancying that 

 I had " lost my sea legs " was entirely relieved by 

 fortunately coming across a distinguished naval officer, 

 on his way to take a command on the West Indian 

 station, who like myself was forced to hold on with 

 both hands during the rolling of the ship. 



It was clear that we had passed at no great 

 distance from a cyclone in the North Atlantic — one 

 of those disturbances whose visits are so often pre- 

 dicted from the western continent, but which so often 

 fortunately lose their way or get dissipated before 

 they approach our shores. It would seem that little 

 progress has been made in forecasting the direction 

 in which these great aerial eddies traverse the ocean, 

 or the conditions under which they expend their 

 force. It seems allowable to suppose that the most 

 important of the causes influencing their direction 

 depend upon the general movements of the great 

 currents of the atmosphere ; and that, as these are 



