30(5 HISTORY OF 



hurricanes, and that extraordinary kind of cloud 

 which is said to produce them. This cloud, 

 which is the forerunner of an approaching hurri- 

 cane, appears, when first seen, like a small black 

 spot on the verge of the horizon, and is called 

 by sailors the bull's-eye, from being seen so 

 minute at a vast distance. All this time, a per- 

 fect calm reigns over the sea and land, while the 

 cloud grows gradually broader as it approaches. 

 At length, coming to the place where its fury 

 is to fall, it invests the whole horizon with dark- 

 ness. During all the time of its approach, a hol- 

 low murmur is heard in the cavities of the moun- 

 tains ; and beasts and animals, sensible of its ap- 

 proach, are seen running over the fields to seek 

 for shelter. Nothing can be more terrible than 

 its violence when it begins. The houses in those 

 countries, which are made of timber, the better 

 to resist its fury, bend to the blast like osiers, 

 and again recover their rectitude. The sun* 

 which but a moment before blazed with meri- 

 dian splendour, is totally shut out; and a mid- 

 night darkness prevails, except that the air is 

 incessantly illuminated with gleams of lightning, 

 by which one can easily see to read. The rain 

 falls, at the same time, in torrents ; and its de- 

 scent has been resembled to what pours from 

 the spouts of our houses after a violent shower* 

 These hurricanes are not less offensive to the 

 sense of smelling also ; and never come without 

 leaving the most noisome stench behind them. 

 If the seamen also lay by their wet clothes, for 

 twenty-four hours, they are all found swarming 



