250 SPORTING ADVENTURES 



spiral form, descends and meets the sea beneath, 

 causing the agitation of the water, and drawing 

 up quantities of spray, which gives it the ap- 

 pearance of a solid body of water. The column, 

 rapidly revolving, presently sways to and fro, 

 and then gradually fades away. 



During the time we were watching the water- 

 spouts the sea was alive with whales, porpoises, 

 sword-fish, devil-fish, and shoals of smaller fry, 

 which last were attended overhead by pelicans, 

 albatross, frigate birds, and other birds of prey. 

 Whilst crossing the Gulf of Tehuantepee we 

 experienced the usual " norther," which blows 

 almost without intermission across the isthmus 

 from the Gulf of Mexico. This wind, amount- 

 ing sometimes to a fresh gale, blows with such 

 regularity that the navigator can always rely 

 upon it, and, by previously hugging the coast 

 so as to place the ship well to windward, can 

 make a fair wind of it, whether bound up or 

 down the coast. It blows across the low land 

 like a funnel, being kept in by the mountains on 

 either side of the isthmus, consequently it com- 



