568 



WATER-SPOUTS AND WHIRLWINDS. 





diffused in places that have been struck by lightning. This cloud had a very 

 rapid motion, and formed round it a whirlwind, which extended to a distance 

 of above a hundred yards round, the force of which was so prodigious that it 

 tore up trees by the roots, carried away the roofs of houses, overturned build- 

 ings, and scattered their ruins to a distance of nearly 500 yards. After having 

 moved along half a league, with a width of above 200 yards, it Avas dissipated, 

 followed by heavy rain, but not accompanied by thunder or lightning." 



In the Journal de Physique for November, 1780, is the following description 

 of one of these meteors, which took place at five o'clock in the evening, near 

 Carcassonne : 



" This meteor originated upon the borders of the Aude. It commenced by 

 pouring down a great quantity of water ; it then projected upward, to a great 

 height, quantities of sand. It unroofed eighty houses, and scattered over the 

 country the sheaves of corn which it carried away. It tore up by the roots 

 large oaks, and transported to a distance of fifty yards their branches, project- 

 ing them in a direction contrary to that of its own motion. It broke the doors, 

 windows, and furniture of a chateau; it destroyed the pavement in the middle 

 of a room, without deranging china cups which were placed there ; it broke 

 the frame of a looking-glass which was placed upon a chimney-piece, and scat- 

 tered the fragments upon the chairs of the room, leaving the glass, however, in 

 its place uninjured." 



In the Memoirs of the Academy of Toulouse, vol. v., is the following descrip- 

 tion of a land-spout, which, on the 15th of June, 1785, devastated the neigh- 

 borhood of Esclades, about four leagues from Narbonne : 



" The night before this, terrible visitation was very fine, the sun rose unob- 

 scured by a single cloud, and the morning air was calm and pure. At half-past 

 six o'clock the heat became very great, and continued to increase till seven 

 o'clock, when it was excessive. At that time there appeared in the west a small 

 cloud, which, gradually augmenting, extended in an hour over the whole hori- 

 zon. The thermometer of Reaumur stood at 29,* and the barometer at 28 

 inches. There was a light wind from the west. Such being the state of the 

 atmosphere at two o'clock in the afternoon, a kind of smoky and blustering 

 (Iruyantr] column was formed in the west, which passed between Esclades and 

 Mont Brun. In its course it swept away earth and sand, tore up trees, and 

 ravaged everything which came before it. This lasted for about five minutes. 

 At about five miles from Esclades it became stationary for about five minutes, 

 after which it returned upon its steps : the noise which it made resembled the 

 continual roaring of thunder. It burst upon Esclades in a terrific shower of 

 hail. This hail was succeeded by a rain so abundant that the country was in- 

 undated. During this shower, which lasted three quarters of an hour, lightning 

 fell in several places. The thermometer rose to 32.f 



" The barometer rose a quarter of an inch, and the wind was very violent. 

 After the meteor disappeared the weather became cool, and the barometer fell 

 an inch and a quarter." 



Humboldt slates that, in the Steppes of South America, the plain or table 

 land presents an extraordinary spectacle, which he describes as follows : 



" The sand rises in the middle of a rarefied whirlwind, probably charged 

 with electricity, like a vapor, or a cloud in the form of a funnel, the point of 

 which slides upon the ground, and resembling the blustering water-spout so 

 much feared by the experienced navigator. On the roads in Europe, we see 

 something which approaches the singular appearance of these whirlwinds of 

 sand ; but they are especially observed in the sandy deserts situate in Peru, be- 

 tween Coquimbo and Amotape. It is worthy of remark, that these partial cui 



* Equal to 100 degrees Fahr. t Equal to 104 degrees Fahr. 



