1 62 LIGHT SCIENCE FOE LEISURE HOURS. 



storm-track may extend to or even slightly overlap 

 the land, in which case scudding before the gale would 

 bring the ship upon a lee-shore. And in this way- 

 many gallant ships have, doubtless, suffered wreck. 



The danger of the sailor is obviously greater, how- 

 ever, when he is overtaken by the storm on the inner 

 side of the storm- c\- Here he has to encounter the 

 double force of the cyclonic whirl and of the advancing 

 storm-system, instead of the difference of the two 

 motions, as on the outer side of the storm- track. His 

 chance of escape will depend on his distance from the 

 central path of the cyclone. If near to this, it is 

 equally dangerous for him to attempt to scud to the 

 safer side of the track, or to beat against the wind by 

 the shorter course which would lead him out of the 

 storm- Cj on its inner side. It has been shown by 

 Colonel Sir W. Reid that this is the quarter in which 

 vessels have been most frequently lost. 



But even the danger of this most dangerous quarter 

 admits of degrees. It is greatest where the storm is 

 sweeping round the most curved part of its track, 

 which happens in about latitude twenty-five or thirty 

 degrees. In this case, a ship may pass twice through 

 the vortex of the storm. Here hurricanes have worked 

 their most destructive effects. And thus it happens 

 that sailors dread, most of all, the part of the Atlantic 

 near Florida and the Bahamas, and the region of the 

 Indian Ocean which lies south of Bourbon and 

 Mauritius. 



To show how important it is that captains should 



