WATEESPOUTS. 



267 



the clouds charged with electric fluid off the land upon the sea near the 

 American coast ; whereas, upon the European coast, these winds confine 

 the clouds upon the land. It is also a known fact, that within the limits 

 of the N.E. Trade Winds, and half-way between the Cape Verde and 

 Windward West India Islands, more especially in the latitude of these 

 islands, scarcely any of these electrical appearances ever happen ; whereas, 

 upon the shores of Africa and America, in the same climate, they frequently 

 rage with great fury." 



(214.) Description of Waterspouts by Mr. George Maxwell. — There can 

 be no doubt that Waterspouts have, in most cases, been accompanied with 

 electrical phenomena ; and it is equally certain that the spiral and ascend- 

 ing motion of the water has been produced by a gyratory movement in the 

 air, arising from the meeting of two opposite winds. Mr. Maxwell had 

 opportunities, during several voyages to the Congo, of frequently witness- 

 ing this interesting phenomenon ; and in a drawing, from which the sub- 

 joined figure has been made, he represented the different states of a Water- 

 snout, as they commonly occur. 



At their first formation, Mr. Maxwell says, they appear as at A, where 

 the black cloud drops from a level surface into a conical form, before the 

 disturbance at the surface of the sea, as shown at D, is observed. The 

 effect produced at D is like that of a smoking furnace. The black conical 

 cloud now continues to descend, as shown at B, till it almost reaches the 

 surface of the sea, and the smoke-like appearance rises higher and higher, 

 till it forms a connection with the cloud from which the spout appears to be 

 suspended. In this condition it is said to put on its most terrific appear- 

 ance to vessels which have the misfortune to be in its neighbourhood. 

 When the spout begins to disperse, it assumes the appearance shown at C. 

 The black cloud generally draws itself up in a ragged form, but leaves a 



