268 OBSERVATIONS ON THE WINDS. 



Hurricane was the deafness experienced by every one during the storm Cpossibly 

 the result of the reduced barometric pressure). During the Cyclone the wind 

 veered from E.N.E. to S S.E., the latter being the most destructive. During the 

 storm there were incessant flashes of sheet lightning, unaccompanied by thimder, 

 and immediately after the storm there were two distinct shocks of earthquake, at 

 intervals of about five seconds. Early in September I visited Trinite, and all the 

 way the destruction was most complete, the trees and vegetation looking as though 

 there had been a forest fire, although without the charred appearance. The 

 factories and distilleries appear to have been more completely destroyed than 

 other property. 



The thermometer ranged from 90° to 100° Fahrenheit during the storm. There 

 was a deluge of rain, one accovmt stating that over 4 inches fell in a few hours 

 that evening. My own residence was unroofed and flooded with water, as was 

 the case with nine -tenths of the buildings in St. Pierre and throughout the island; 

 the loss of life was small in St. Pierre, but large in the interior towns, notably in 

 Morne Rouge, where eight in one family lost their lives. The total loss of life, so 

 fair as reliable information can be obtained, was 700, and the loss of property was 

 enormous. All the fruit, the main reliance of the labouring class, was destroyed, 

 and prices of provisions advanced 300 per cent. Every vessel was wrecked or 

 badly damaged, about fifty sail in all. The scene the island presents would be 

 difficult to describe. Such a night of terror the imagination can scarcely picture. 



(202.) Examples of vessels passing through the Vortex. — In August, 1887, the 

 American steamer Knickerbocker was steered right into the heart of a Hurricane. 

 Passing Cape Hatteras, bound South, at midnight, on the 21st, at noon, it was 

 blowing a stiff breeze from E.S.E., with a heavy sea. The course was continued, 

 and on the 23rd, in lat. 30° 10', long. 77° 28', a fierce gale from E.S.E. was en- 

 countered, with immense cross sea; at 4'' p.m., blowing a Hurricane from East 

 to E.S.E., heavy rain, sea a mass of foam; 9*' p.m., wind suddenly lulled, baro- 

 meter 28-90 ; lO*" 15™ p.m., wind suddenly came out from W.N.W. to West, in a 

 fearful Cyclone, ship hove-to, terrific rain, the sea lashed to foam. 24th, 1*' 30" 

 a.m., frightful Cyclone from W.N.W. , immense cross sea, barometer 28-20. At 

 3'^ a.m., it began to moderate, the barometer rising gradually. 



Captain Roggeveen, of the steamer Veendam, reports : — At 8'' a.m., December 

 1st, 1890, m lat. 41° 13' N., long. 59° 58' W., wind E.S.E. , force 9, barometer 

 28-19 ; long, high-rolling sea, dark stormy-looking sky. At 3'^ 45™ p.m., lat. 42° 42', 

 long. 60° 42', it felt calm with enormously high seas rolling in from S.E. At once 

 the wind came from W.N.W., blowing a full hurricane; barometer 2795. 



ON MAKING USE OF HURRICANES. 



(203.) Mr. Piddington suggested that it might be possible to make use 

 of these Storms, by taking advantage of the favourable vfind which some 

 portions of their circumference offer for expediting the voyage. This was 

 also proposed by Sir W. Reid, in his " Law of Storms." Mr. Piddington 

 gave rules for thife, in the regions he made more particularly his study — 

 the Indian and China Seas. 



In order to benefit by the Hurricane, several conditions are necessary ; 

 and it need not be again insisted on, that any error or ignorance of the 

 centrp of rotation may be fatal. Of course, the first consideration is, in 

 what part of the circumference is the ship, and in what bearing is its 

 centre ? — then, at what rate, and in what direction, is it travelling ? — and 



