TORNADOES. 175 



seven hundred miles from the equator, and far to the 

 east of the region in which they attain their greatest 

 fnry. They sweep with a northwesterly course to the 

 Gulf of Mexico, pass thence northward, and so to the 

 northeast, sweeping in a wide curve (resembling the 

 letter U placed thus CH) around the "West-Indian seas, 

 and thence travelling across the Atlantic, generally 

 expending their fury before they reach the shores of 

 Western Europe. This course is the storm-track (or 

 storm- c^ as we shall call it). Of the behavior of the 

 winds as they traverse this track, we shall have to 

 speak when we come to consider the peculiarity from 

 which these storms derive their names of " cyclones" 

 and " tornadoes." 



The hurricanes of the Indian Ocean occur at the 

 " changing of the monsoons." " During the interreg- 

 num," writes Maury, " the fiends of the storm hold 

 their terrific sway." Becalmed often for a day or two, 

 seamen hear moaning sounds in the air, forewarning 

 them of the coming storm. Then, suddenly, the winds 

 break loose from the forces which have for a while con- 

 trolled them, and " seem to rage with a fury that 

 would break up the fountains of the deep." 



In the North Indian seas hurricanes rage at the 

 same season as in the West Indies. 



In the China seas occur those fearful gales known 

 among sailors as " typhoons," or " white squalls." 

 These take place at the changing of the monsoons. 



