278 ROUND THE YEAR 



AUTUMN WINDS AND WINTER FLOODS. 



Nov. 23. For weeks past there has been a succes- 

 sion of south-westerly gales with torrents of rain. The 

 withered leaves have been whirled away, the roads are 

 deep in mire, the river is in flood. All through the 

 autumn the grass has been growing, and flower buds 

 have been opening months before or after their usual 

 time. 



The ocean of air which rests upon the earth is a 

 most unstable thing, sensitive to the slightest change 

 of temperature. Inequalities of temperature create 

 movement, and the movement once set up does not 

 easily subside. The currents of the air, like currents 

 of water in a deep pool, seldom take a straight course, 

 but circle, or boil up from the depths and then plunge 

 down again. The eddies of the air, like those of the 

 river, have a tendency to keep to certain tracks. Land 

 and sea are fixed things, and these determine to some 

 extent the distribution of the temperature and the set 

 of the winds. For weeks together cyclones go whirling 

 along from S.W. to N.E. between Spain and Iceland, 

 nearly always passing to the north of our islands, but 

 swerving a little from time to time. They bring with 

 them the moisture of the ocean-air, and something of 

 the warmth of lower latitudes. 



A week ago the rivers rose to an unusual height. 

 The banks were swept bare in many places. Trees 

 were uprooted, and felled trees set afloat. Standing 

 on a bridge to watch the rushing torrent I could see 

 trunk after trunk shoot past. The stream has now 

 fallen again, and I have been to watch the effects of 



