HEAVY SQUALL. 69 



we had run S.S.E, 25 miles, in a direct line for 

 that low portion of the coast from which the flat 

 we were running over extends. 



The first part of the night we had the wind at 

 N.N.E., the breeze steady, and the water as smooth 

 as glass ; but as the watch wore on, quick flashes 

 of forked lightning, and the suspicious appearance 

 of gathering clouds in the S.E., gave warning of 

 the unwelcome approach of a heavy squall. At 

 eleven we lay becalmed for ten minutes between 

 two contending winds ; that from the S., however, 

 presently prevailed, and shifting to the S.E., blew 

 hard : meantime, a dark mass of clouds in the E.S.E. 

 appeared suddenly to assume the form of a deep- 

 caverned archway, and moved rapidly towards us ; 

 in a few minutes, the ship was heeling majestically 

 to the passing gust, the lightning flashed vividly 

 and rapidly around us, alternately concealing and 

 revealing the troubled surface of the foam-covered 

 sea, while the thunder rolled heavily over our heads. 

 The squall was heavy while it lasted, commencing 

 at E.S.E. and ending at E,N.E. It was accom- 

 panied by heavy rain. Towards the end of the 

 middle watch, the weather began to assume a more 

 settled appearance, and we had a moderate breeze 

 from the north ; but between five and six o'clock, 

 A.M., it shifted suddenly by the W. to S.S.E., and 

 became light. We sounded repeatedly during the 

 night in from 32 to 35 fathoms, the same kind 

 of bottom as before ; which we found agree very 



