EOTATION OF CYCLONES. 



283 



still, in tlie great hurricane which devastated St. Thomas, a wave 

 driven by the wind rushed over the small island of Tortola, com- 

 mitting such ravages that, according to an absurd legend propagated 

 by terror, the entire island was swallowed up. It is certain, too, that 

 the water of the sea can be drawn in in greater or less quantity by 

 the vacuum which is formed in the midst of the whirlwind ; this 

 has occurred many times, and especially in Barbadoes. Reid saw 

 showers of salt-water fall at a great distance from the shore in the 

 interior of the island, and destroy all the fresh-water fish in the lakes 

 and streams. 



The circular movement of the cyclones does not occur indifferently 

 in one direction or the other. Like the regular phenomena of the 

 winds, these terrible storms, as well as all the other great atmospheric 

 perturbations, conform to laws, and their progress can therefore always 



5(f 



20" 



2(f 



Fig. 113.— Cyclone in the Indian Ocean in Jan., 1852. 



