242 OBSERVATIONS ON THE WINDS. 



must pass through the right-hand semicircle, and should haul-fco and hold 

 all the southing that you can ; lay down the bearing and distance of the 

 centre, and as soon as practicable, by a second bearing and distance, 

 estimate the route of the gale and its progress (168). 



" 3rd. Estimate your distance, and the course that you are likely to 

 make, clear of leeway, and some veering in the wind, and this will give 

 you an idea at what distance you are likely to pass the centre, and what 

 is likely to occur. Knowledge is power. Most carry sail long enough, but 

 many don't set it soon enough. 



"4th. The farther the wind is to the Southward, the nearer you must 

 pass to the centre, and as the wind veers and breaks her off, she will lay 

 in the trough of the sea, and is most likely to get damage in that way, so 

 that if the wind gets loose, it is time to be upon the right tack (that is, the 

 starboard tack, with Westerly winds, in the Atlantic, being in the right- 

 hand semicircle). Every one knows best what his own ship will bear, and 

 what she will perform ; however, if you will go ahead till the last minute, 

 when the barometer stops falling, it is high time to have her round upon 

 the right tack, as there is generally a tremendous gust shortly after the 

 barometer stops falling, or when it has made a slight rise ; and the ship 

 should be upon the starboard tack, that she may come up and bow the sea 

 when she takes it. 



" 5th. To wait for ' the lull,' or the ' sky to the Westward lighting up, 

 to indicate the shift,' will often be too late." 



(183.) We have given the above explanatory remarks of Lieutenant 

 Evans and Captain Leighton in full, as they are still worthy of study. 

 We now, how( ver, proceed to give the results of the researches of the latest 

 authorities on this subject, in as condensed and simple a form as possible. 



A Northward-bound vessel, after encountering a Hurricane in the Tropics, 

 is liable to encounter the same Storm again in higher latitudes, after it 

 has recurved. If, when lying-to, the Storm wind begins to shift in the 

 opposite direction to what it did at first, it is evidence that the Storm track 

 is recurving, and your semicircle is changed. Immediate action must be 

 taken to suit the new conditions. If your vessel is making any great 

 headway, it may give you a shift of wind contrary to what you would 

 have if lyihg^to. 



If on its approach the wind veers, or changes with the sun, through 

 North, East, and South, the observer is on the right of the Storm track, 

 and the centre will pass to the right of the direction in which it was first 

 determined. When the wind backs, or changes through North, West, and 

 South, the observer is on the left of the path, and the centre will move to 

 the left of its first direction. 



(184.) Sir W. Beid's Rule for Laying Ships to in a Hurricane. — That 

 tack on which a ship should be laid-to in a Hurricane has hitherto been a 

 problem to be solved, and is one which seamen have long considered im- 

 portant to have explained. In these tempests, when a vessel is lying-to, 

 and the wind veers by the ship's head, she is in danger of getting stem- 

 way, even when no sail is set ; for in a Hurricane the wind's force upon 

 the masts and yards alone will produce this effect should the wind veer 

 ahead ; and it is supposed that vessels have often foundered from thia 



