S34 HISTORY OF 



expecting that its parts would join again, as I 

 had before seen in one of the others, . in which 

 the spout was more than once broken, and yet 

 again came together ; but I was disappointed, for 

 the spout appeared no more." 



Many have been the solutions offered for this 

 surprising appearance. M. BufFon supposes the 

 spout here described, to proceed from the opera- 

 tion of fire beneath the bed of the sea, as the 

 waters at the surface are thus seen agitated. 

 However, the solution of Dr Stuart is not divest- 

 ed of probability, who thinks it may be account- 

 ed for by suction, as in the application of a cup- 

 ping-glass to the skin. 



Wherever spouts of this kind are seen, they are 

 extremely dreaded by mariners ; for if they hap- 

 pen to fall upon a ship, they most commonly dash 

 it to the bottom ; but if the ship be large enough 

 to sustain the deluge, they are at least sure to 

 destroy its sails and rigging, and render it unfit 

 for sailing. It is said that vessels of any force 

 usually fire their guns at them, loaden with a bar 

 of iron ; and if so happy as to strike them, the 

 water is instantly seen to fall from them, with a 

 dreadful noise, though without any farther mis- 

 chief. 



I am at a loss whether we ought to reckon 

 these spouts called typhons, which are sometimes 

 seen at land, of the same kind with those so often 

 described by mariners at sea, as they seem to 

 differ in several respects. That, for instance, ob- 

 served at Hatfield in Yorkshire, in 1687, as it is 

 described by the person who saw it, seems rather 



