NATURAL HISTORY. 67 



" The first, says tliis celebrated voyager, that we 

 ,<;i\v, was on the northern coast, between us and the 

 island Quesomo, about a gun-shot from the ship. 

 We directly perceived water w hich boiled on the sur- 

 face of the sea about a foot high ; it was whitish, and 

 appeared above that height like a thick black smoke, 

 so that it properly resembled some burning straw, 

 which only smoked. It made a noise like that of a 

 torrent which runs with much rapidity in a deep valley. 

 But this noise was mixed with another, similar to the 

 strong hissing of serpents or vipers. A little while 

 afterwards we perceived something like a dark canal, 

 or pipe, which bore a strong resemblance to smoke 

 which ascends towards the clouds, revolved with great 

 velocity. This pipe appeared to be about the thick- 

 ness of my finger, and the same noise continued. 

 The duration of this spout was about a quarter of an 

 hour. We then perceived another on the south side of 

 us, which began in the same manner as the preceding. 

 Immediately a third and then a fourth sprung up, 

 both to the west. Each of them appeared like heaps 

 of smoking straw, and were accompanied with the 

 same noise as the first. We afterwards saw three 

 pipes cr canals, which descended from the clouds, on 

 those places where the water was raised up, and each 

 of them was as broad at the end fastened to the cloud, 

 as the broad end of a trumpet, and resembled the teat 

 (fan animal, drawn perpendicularly down by a heavy 

 weight. These canals apuei'.rjd of a darkish wh.'tt, 

 and were not straight, but crooked in some places- 

 They even were not peipendicular; but, on the con- 

 trary, from the clouds where they were joined to the 

 parts which drew in the water, they were very much 

 Lent.' And what is singular is, that the cloud which 



