i 



110 BOOK OF NATURE LAID OPEN. 



with foundation, that these spouts may be broken 

 and destroyed by the commotion which the firing 

 of cannon excite in the air. 



The other kind of water spout is called a typhon, 

 and does not descend from the clouds, but rises up 

 from the sea with great violence. " These Water- 

 spouts," Thevenot observes, " are also very danger- 

 ous, for if they fall on a vessel they entangle in the 

 sails so much that sometimes they raise it up, and 

 afterwards let it fall with such violence as to sink it; 

 or, at least, if they do not lift the vessel up, they tear 

 all the sails, or let the water they contain fall on it, 

 which often sinks it to the bottom." But, whatever 

 mischief may be occasioned by Water- spouts, or 

 however terrifying their appearance, we have abun- 

 dant reason to believe, from their being the produc- 

 tions of so wise and good a God, that the partial evil 

 they may at times occasion, is nothing in comparison 

 with the good they promote. As the burning torrent, 

 issuing from the top of Etna or Vesuvius, alarms the 

 surrounding inhabitants, and sometimes carries ir- 

 remediable devastation among their dwellings, yet 

 is absolutely necessary to prevent greater evils, so 

 the terrific Water spout may act as the most simple 

 and efficacious medium of restoring that equilibrium 

 among the elements, which, if longer prevented, 

 might not only occasion convulsions sufficient to 

 swallow up whole navies, but be attended with the 

 most direful effects upon the dry land. But were it 

 for no other purpose than to add to the grandeur of 

 such a scene as is about to be described, and awa- 



