VOL. LIV,] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 199 



any of them otherwise hurt. Luckily before the 2d, the men who were on the 

 quarter-deck, in number about 20, had time to retire under the awning, which 

 is a projection of the deck of the cabin to shelter from the sun or rain ; so all 

 escaped unhurt, though sufficiently frighted. And indeed the second flash was 

 most terrible, as it was an explosion like a great number of balls, which went 

 off after each other, cracking like shells, which continued for the space of 

 half a miimte ; and from which there was no retiring, as the door of the cabin 

 was shut ; and they might have set the ship on fire, but for the great rain which 

 had fallen immediately before this. 



Anno 1746, a Dutch ship, lying in the road of Batavia, having taken leave 

 of the governor, was ready to depart for Bengal. The afternoon was calm, and 

 towards evening they had loosed their sails, and lay ready to take up their an- 

 chor on the coming off of the wind from the land, which is common every 

 night. A black cloud was gathering over the hills, and the wind brought it 

 towards the ship : by the time the cloud and the wind reached the ship, a clap 

 of thunder burst from it just over the ship, and set fire to the main-top-sail, 

 which being very dry, burnt with great fury ; and this set fire to the rigging and 

 mast. They immediately attempted to cut away the mast, but were hindered 

 by the falling of the rigging, which was burnt, from the head of the mast. 

 By d^rees the fire communicated to the other masts, and obliged the people to 

 desert the ship ; and afterwards it took hold of the body of the ship, and burn- 

 ing down to the powder, the upper part of the hull blew up, and the bottom 

 part sunk in the place where she was at anchor. 



Anno 1741, Bencoolen road on the s. w. side of the island of Sumatra, lat. 

 4" O' south. There lay here two ships, one an European, the other a country 

 trading ship, both belonging to the East-India Company. Here, as well as in 

 the strait of Malacca, you have periodical winds, which blow for 6 months of 

 the year from the same quarter of the horizon, and the other 6 months from 

 the opposite quarter ; and it is observable that these thunder showers and squalls 

 of wind usually come contrary to these stated winds, which are calmed during 

 the thunder, but return to their constant quarter as soon as the thunder and 

 rain are past. In the above year 1741, in June, the weather was very hot and 

 sultry, and the constant wind but very faint. The wind came after this from 

 the land, and almost opposite to the usual point a very faint air ; and the thun- 

 der was frequent and close to the ships, which lay near each other, but the fog 

 and rain prevented their seeing each other ; they often trembled and shook by 

 the explosion of the thunder. One of these claps burst on the country ship, 

 which by this time had her topmasts struck ; that is, lowered down along the 

 lower masts. This clap carried away and burst to pieces all the part of the 

 lower mast from where the yard is carried aloft to within 6 or 7 feet of the 



