188 OBSEEVATIONS ON THE WINDS. 



the wind to back to the Eastward, but the type of gale in which this ia 

 possible resembles a Cyclone, and does not represent the ordinary gales of 

 these latitudes which begin at South and end at West or N.W. Again, it 

 might be possible for a ship, with the first of the Southerly wind which 

 exists on the East side of the area of low pressure, to get less wind by 

 running to the North, but as the extent in latitude of the Cyclone area is 

 not known, and as there is no certainty that she would get into more 

 moderate weather by doing so, she might do herself more harm than good. 

 It seems, then, probable that a ship bound to the Southward or West- 

 ward must face one of these gales il she meets it. A weak ship, whose 

 object is to stem the sea and get safely through, without considering pro- 

 gress, should lie-to on the starboard tack, as the wind generally shifts from 

 South to S.W., West, and N.W. This would of course be the best plan for 

 any ship which found the gale too heavy for her. But a well-conditioned 

 ship, bound to the Westward, may keep on the port tack until the wind 

 shifts to West with a rising barometer, and then tack to the South- West- 

 ward. This plan would, of course, tend to bring her into the trough of the 

 sea, and she would be more likely to be caught aback as the wind changed, 

 but we are assuming that her captain will be prepared to meet these risks. 



When the wind has shifted to N.W., the starboard tack takes her away 

 from the centre of such a disturbance, though she may soon sail into the 

 Southerly wind of the Eastern side of another low-pressure area coming 

 towards her. This would be a very common occurrence in winter. 



(124.) Captain H. Toynbee, in the pamphlet mentioned in the note on 

 page 178, remarks : — There are some practical questions respecting these 

 gales which are of great importance to seamen, one of them being : When 

 a ship is bound to the Westward, and meets the Southerly wind on the 

 Eastern edge of one of these gales, can she bring about a more favourable 

 wind by running to the North, or otherwise manoeuvring, or must she 

 undergo all its changes from South by the West to W.N.W. or N.W. as it 

 is sweeping by her to the Eastward ? 



We are not without evidence leading to the supposition that there is a 

 polar limit to these Westerly gales ; for instance, Buchan, in his " Handy 

 Book of Meteorology," gives a Table of the prevailing winds in January, 

 which shows that Iceland has about an equal amount of wind from aU 

 directions, whilst the prevailing wind in Greenland is Easterly, and in 

 Newfoundland North- Westerly. The Meteorological Journal of H.M.S. 

 Battlesnake, Captain Trollope, E.N., shows that when she was frozen up 

 in Port Clarence, Behring Strait, during the winter of 1853 and 1854, she 

 experienced North-Easterly winds for two-thirds of the time. 



It seems probable that Westerly gales are not so common in 60° N. or S. 

 as they are in 40° or 50°, so that, other circumstances being equally favour- 

 able, the higher latitudes are the better for making xvesting. It is common 

 with seamen to call the zone between lat. 40° and 50° "the Eoaring Forties," 

 which seems to support the above idea. 



If these Westerly gales extend over several degrees of latitude, there 

 does not seem to be any chance for a ship bound Westward to bring about 

 a change by manoeuvring until they have swept by, and if the wind is not 

 BO strong as to make a beam sea dangerous, the best plan seems to be to 



