HUERICANES. 239 



in preparation for meeting the worst, and be ready to lay his vessel to, or 

 to aoud, according to the direction of the wind first experienced. To be 

 quite sure of what he is about to do, perhaps the safest plan would be to 

 wait until the first shift takes place after the commencement of the Storm ; 

 by which measure his position would be confirmed, a point of material con- 

 sequence to arrive at. 



Every experienced seaman, after having given the theory his best atten- 

 tion, and made himself familiar with the whole working of the wonderful 

 meteor, will of course follow the dictates of his own nature and judgment, 

 upon an occasion that will assuredly call forth the full exercise of it. 

 Without, therefore, presuming or desiring to obtrude upon him the manner 

 we ourselves should act under a case of such uncertainty, which would 

 demand all the resources of mind of the individual commander, for the first 

 time placed in such a dilemma, we shall nevertheless offer it here as a mere 

 illustration. 



Let us, then, suppose that we are steering to the Northward in our ship, 

 within the limits of the Trade Wind (call it E.N.E.), and that certain 

 prognostics appear, which our judgment informs us forebode a Storm. If 

 it happens to be the Hurricane season, we are bound by prudence to pre- 

 pare the ship for encountering a tempest of that nature, even though 

 appearances may induce us to think that such would not eventually happen ; 

 for, whether a mere common gale or a Hurricane should follow, every 

 sensible person will admit that, during that season, it is the wisest as it is 

 the safest plan, to be prepared to meet the worst that may happen under 

 such appearances. It must be recollected that nature herself proclaims the 

 warning, and her admonitions are not to be disregarded with impunity. 



Without loss of time, we make the ship snug, hatches battened down, &c. 

 This done, we should bring her to the wind on the starboard tack, with 

 her head to the Northward, with a fore and a mizen storm stay-sail. We 

 cannot, as we said before, anticipate under what verge of the Storm we 

 shall enter, but we shall have done all that prudence can dictate, by lying- 

 to without square sails, and of course making up our minds to have the 

 fore-and- afters blown to shreds by the new wind, come from whatsoever 

 quarter it may. In this position we must wait patiently until the first 

 shift of wind takes place. If this should be from E.N.E. to E. by N. and 

 East, we should make ourselves easy in the position obtained, with refer- 

 ence to the particular verge of the Storm, as well as in what we had placed 

 the ship ; having the assurance (from the shift of wind) that the anterior 

 verge which had struck us would be now running away at the rate of from 

 15 to 20 miles an hour, whilst our drift to the Westward would not exceed 

 3J miles in the same time ; so that every point that the wind drew round 

 toward the South would tell as plainly as if a map of the whole operations 

 were suspended in the heavens overhead, for our consolation, that our exit 

 from the commotion was rapidly drawing nearer and nearer ; and that, if 

 the ship proved equal to contend with the crisis, and no vibration occurred, 

 we should escape the centre. 



This may sound, in the style of the celebrated Francis Moore, of pre- 

 dicting memory, very like " taking a peep into futurity." We are not, 

 however, studying the doctrine of probabihties. As far as we at present 



