40 WAVES OF THE SEA 



300 statute or 260 geographical miles. This dis- 

 tance from the windward shores is the same as 

 the maximum possible on Lake Superior, but the 

 area of the Western Mediterranean is many times 

 greater. The height which I observed in the 

 Western Mediterranean in a moderate gale (speed 

 of wind estimated by the captain of the vessel at 

 30 miles per hour) is the same as that recorded for 

 gales of exceptional severity upon Lake Superior, 

 in which the velocity of the wind would not be 

 less than 53 miles an hour. The height, therefore, 

 attained by the largest waves in very severe storms 

 in the Western Mediterranean must be greater. 

 The storms of the Gulf of Lions situated to the 

 westward of my place of observation are notorious 

 for their severity and for the dangerous sea which 

 rises. Admiral W. H. Smyth, in his book upon 

 the Mediterranean, 1 writes that in the worst weather 

 in the Gulf of Lions the waves attain a height 

 which cannot be much less than 30 feet. Perhaps 

 we may interpret this as meaning that they cannot 

 be less than 27 to 28 feet. 



Waves in the China Sea 



The China Sea is a body of water lying between 

 the mainland of Asia and the open Pacific, from 

 1 Quoted by Cialdi, " Moto Ondoso del Mare." 



