42 THE OCEAN WORLD. 



found on the shore, which had been thrown up from the bottom of 

 the sea by the force of the tempests. 



If the waves, in their reflux, meet with obstacles, whirlpools and 

 whirlwinds are the result the former the terror of navigators. Such 

 are the whirlpools known in the Straits of Messina, between the rocks 

 of Charybdis and Scylla, celebrated as the terror of ancient mariners, 

 and which were sung by Homer, Ovid, and Yirgil : 



" Scylla latus dextrum, Isevum irrequieta Charybdis, 

 Infestat ; vorat hsec raptis revomitque carinas. 

 . . . Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdiin." 



These rocks are better understood, and less redoubted in our days. At 

 Charybdis, there is a foaming whirlpool ; at Scylla, the waves dash 

 against the low wall of rock which forms the promontory, scarcely 

 noticed by the navigator of our days. 



Another celebrated whirlpool is that of Euripus, near the Island of 

 Eubcea ; another is known in the Gulf of Bothnia. But perhaps the 

 best known rocky danger is the Maelstrom, whose waters have a 

 gyratory movement, producing a whirlpool at certain states of the 

 tide, the result of opposing currents, which change every six hours, 

 and which, from its power and magnitude, is capable of attracting 

 and engulfing ships to their destruction, although chiefly dangerous 

 to smaller craft. 



To the combined effects of tides and whirlpools may also be attri- 

 buted the hurricanes, so dreaded by navigators, which so frequently 

 visit the Mauritius and other parts of the Indian Ocean. In periods 

 of the utmost calms, when there is scarcely a breath to ruffle the air, 

 these shores are sometimes visited by immense waves, accompanied by 

 whirlwinds, which seem capable of blowing the ships out of the water, 

 seizing them by the keel, whirling them round on an axis, and finally 

 capsizing them. " At the period of the changing monsoon, the winds, 

 breaking loose from their controlling forces, seem to rage with a fury 

 capable of breaking up the very fountains of the deep." 



The hurricanes of the Atlantic occur in the months of August and 

 September, while the south-west monsoon of Africa and the south- 

 east monsoon of the West Indies are at their height ; the agents of 

 the one drawing the north-east trade-winds into the interior of Mexico 

 and Texas, the other drawing them into the interior of Africa, greatly 

 disturbing the equilibrium of the atmosphere. 



