CAUSES CREATING SUDDEN FLOODS. 105 



are, we think, sufficient to show the sudden and 

 terrible nature of some of these floods, which, as we 

 have said, are more common in the interior of great 

 continents throughout the world, than people would 

 suppose. They are frequent in South Africa for instance. 

 The torrential rains of the inter-tropical zone being in 

 these cases carried far up the country probably be- 

 cause of the quantities of heated air cast up from the 

 surface of these great plains ; all over which, the solar 

 rays are felt with great intensity of power. 



And if in answer to the very natural questions: 

 From whence do these immense quantities of water 

 come ? and, Why do they fall so suddenly ? we might 

 venture to hazard an opinion upon matters so apparently 

 unaccountable, we should be inclined to reply, That 

 in the first place, what seems to be clearly taught us 

 by these occurrences is that the marvellous water- 

 bearing capacity of the winds is practically inexhaust- 

 ible, because of the diffusion of aqueous vapour through 

 space and lastly, that the less obvious phenomenon 

 of its sudden condensation in these enormous quan- 

 tities is probably due to the great radiation of solar 

 heat, so often experienced in the plains country, which 

 causes the vapour-laden winds to flow onward without 

 depositing their due proportion of water, until, after 

 excessive accumulation, some sudden cyclonic eddy 

 of cold atmosphere occurs to precipitate it. 



The area of these disturbances is sometimes restricted 

 to very small proportions, as is conclusively proved by 

 the following incident, which occurred at Paris, on the 

 afternoon of May 2ist, 1891, when 



" A waterspout formed near the centre of the Champs 

 Elysees, and gyrating in its descent over the Place de la 



