572 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON WINDS. ETC. 



one-tenth appears to take place for every 10 nailes removal of the centra 

 so that the number of miles distance from the centre of an approaching 

 Gale might, perhaps, be indicated by the number of hundredths shown by 

 the barometer over the extreme of 28-50. [See (168), page 230.] 



" The difference in the fall o/ ram* has also its regularity, the approach 

 of the centre bringing a temporary increase, and then a cessation of the 

 rain, which is renewed, and, in a reversed order, diminished on the 

 removal of the centre. According to the observations made at this oflBce, 

 there appears to be in every Gale of wind a zone of rain about 120 miles 

 in breadth, heaviest on the inner edge, which is about 60 miles distant 

 from the centre ; that the fall of rain decreases in proportion to the 

 distance from this line ; and that the fall on the inner edge, being about 

 twelve-hundredths of an inch per hour, the decrease is about one- 

 hundredth for every 10 miles of removal." 



In order to follow out the views of Colonel (Sir W.) Eeid, the English 

 consul and vice-consuls at the Azores kept regular daily tables of the 

 direction and force of the Winds, between May, 1840, and November, 

 1841 ; and the courses of twenty Gales which occurred were compiled 

 from them, the details being given in the " Nautical Magazine," 

 March, 1842. 



From the particulars of these twenty gales,f there appear to be some 

 general conclusions which may be deduced. The first circumstance 

 developed by the inquiry is, the general direction of Storms passing across 

 the Azores. The coincidence of this course with the Great Atlantic 

 Current, which is a continuation of the Gulf Stream, which may every 

 day be traced to the neighbourhood of the Azores, and which the sudden 

 rise of water in those islands (where, having been hastened by a gale, it is 

 suddenly checked in any locality by the operation of the wind, accom- 

 panied by a diminution of atmospheric pressure) proves to be sensibly 

 carried beyond them, goes very far to identify the Azorean Storms with 

 the Tropical Gales and Hurricanes traced in the able work of Colonel 

 Eeid, from the South American coast, along the course of the Gulf 

 Stream to Cape Hatteras, in North America. There is a further resem- 

 blance in their diameters. In the chart which Colonel Eeid composed of 

 the great Hurricane of October 10th, 1780, the diameter given to it, in 

 the latitude of the Azores, is about 550 miles. Of the Azorean Gales 

 under consideration, four were about this diameter, eleven of about or 

 under 650 miles, and five under 900 miles. 



It seems probable that if a sh^ were met by a violent Gale near the 

 Azores, her best course would be to steer, so far as the veering of the 

 wind would allow, due North or South ; that if she steered to the east- 

 ward, she would accompany the Gale, and be overtaken by the greater 



• In the Azores a southerly wind creates great humidity in the atmosphere; a 

 northerly wind removes it. Under the former influence, there is frequently two per 

 cent, of water in the air; under the latter, less than one per cent. 



|- The commencement of these gales was on the following days, viz.: — 1840, June 4th, 

 Aug. 19th, Oct. 3rd, Oct. 7th, Oct. 9th, Nov. 2nd, Nov. 11th, Nov. 14th, Nov. 28th, 

 Dec. Ist, Dec. 6th, Dec. 11th, Dec. 15th, Dec. 27th; 18» 1, Jan. 11th, Feb. 3rd, Feb. 11th, 

 Mirch 6th, March 19th, Sept. 8th, and Sept. 18th. 



