i68 



NATURE 



{Dec. 28, 1871 



dotted lines in the map, and omitting to take notice of 

 the Woodbine and Anna Henderson, we arrive at the 

 Mikado, whose situation (marked c on the plan), although 

 not so clearly specified in the report as might be desir- 

 able, must, nevertheless, have approximated to that laid 

 down, if we take into consideration the direction from 

 which it was sailing (from Saigon to Hong Kong) and the 

 time at which it arrived in harbour, viz., about four and 

 twenty hours after the typhoon had passed over it. The 

 shipping report is as follows : — " On midnight the ist 

 inst. (September) the barometer falling, wind increasing 

 from the northerly, barometer falling rapidly. On mid- 

 night of the 2nd instant, the weather indicating -Sl typhoon, 

 began to take in sail ; the wind continued increasing, the 

 barometer still falling ; at 8 A.M. on the (3rd)"" instant took 

 in the main topsail ; at 1 1 a.m. till 2 p.m. blowing a very 

 heavy typhoon, the ship lying on her beam end, the baro- 

 meter 29'34 At 3 P.M. weather began to 



moderate, and the ship began to righten At 



S P.M. on same day the weather again moderated, and we 

 then commenced to make sail to Hong Kong ; the vv'ind 

 rounded to E.S.E." (showing that it had been westerly or 

 north-westerly during the gale). But the fullest and most 

 minute account of the typhoon appears in the narrative 

 of the Onward's adventures during its occurrence ; and 

 here, fortunately, I am able to repose the utmost confi- 

 dence in the statements adduced, owing to a personal 

 acquaintance of several years with the Captain and 

 oiticers of that vessel. There is not the remotest diffi- 

 culty in determining the position of Captain Whyte's 

 vessel during the 2nd and 3rd September, the bearings 

 and distances being quoted on all important occasions. 

 The report runs thus: — "Current setting to S.W. |W., 

 34 miles daily. September 2, at 6 p.m. (barometer ag'Sj), 

 N.E., head of Lema Islands, bore N. by W. i W., 15 

 miles distant ; tacked ship and stood to eastward, wind 

 at N. with a heavy easterly sea coming away, with all 

 appearances of bad weather ; midnight (barometer 2970) 

 wind N. increasing to a gale ; reduced the ship to two 

 topsails ; 4 a.m. (barometer 29'59), wind still at N., gale 

 still increasing with heavy sea from the eastward ; 8 a.m. 

 (barometer 2939), strong and increasing gale, furled all 

 sails, and securad them with double gaskets, and made 

 every preparation for a hard gale. September 3, at noon 

 (barometer 29'I5, still falling), wind N.W., blowing most 

 terrifically with a fearful cross sea, ship pitching heavily, 

 putting bowspit and jibboom under water at times, and 

 fiUing the decks with water ; 4 P.M. (barometer 29^3), wind 

 \V., blowing harder than ever with thick rain ; at 6 P.M. 

 (barometer 29'io), wind W.S.W. blowing stiU most terri- 

 fically with a most fearful cross sea running ; at 8 P.M. 

 (barometer 29'2o), wind S.W. inclined to moderate, sea 

 still very heavy ; midnight (barometer 29'39), wind at S., 

 both wind and sea greatly down with all appearance of 

 better weather ; 6 a.m. (barometer 29^60), wind S.S.E., 

 moderate breeze, made sail and squared away for port." 

 The run of the ship from 6 p.m. September 2 till 4 p.m. 

 September 3, I have represented by the line I f, a.s 

 although the course taken was supposed to be easterly, 

 the strong current setting in a S.W. direction would cer- 

 tainly bring it down to the point f. Thus the ship in 

 endeavouring to escape the typhoon ran right into it ! 

 Now what may be gathered from all these facts ? That a 

 terrific gale from the east struck the Formosa in the posi- 

 tion indicated by a on the 2nd September at 4 a.m. ; that 

 it passed over Hong Kong (at c in map) between 10 and 

 1 1 the following night ; that it reached Macao {d in 

 map) at 2 A.M. on the morning of the 3rd, exhibiting such 

 pecuUar phases of character as would lead one to believe 

 that it was revolving on its axis ; that (after changing its 

 direction) it overtook the Mikado in the position indicated 



* I have altered this from 2nd to 3rd as the typhoon could not have been 

 •^^ indicated " after it had actually occurred I The figure a was evidently 

 a misprint. 



by e, at 2 p.m. on the 3rd September ; and that finally it 

 swept over the Onward in the position indicated by f, 

 still coming from the west, at 4 p.m. the same day. 



Hence 1 conceive that my Jitst two conditions are 

 proven. 



The third is as easily disposed of. That the typhoon 

 did not spread itself out to any great extent in a northerly 

 direction is clear from the fact of Canton not having 

 experienced its fury. There was a smart gale blowing on 

 Saturday and Sunday ; but the barometer did not descend 

 below 29'40, and the typhoon was described there as being 

 "insignificant." That it was not felt so far south as 21° 

 N. lat. is evident from the shipping reports of the IVood- 

 bine and Anna Henderson, which make no mention of it. 

 They speak of gales blowing hard from the N. and S.W., 

 and culminating upon the evening of the 2nd of Sep- 

 tember ; but it IS apparent, from the tone of their descrip- 

 tions, tha.t they did not encounter the veritable typhoon. 

 The Woodbine^s report is as follows : — '' 2nd of September, 

 about thirty miles from Lema Island, when encountered a 

 heavy typhoon from N. to S.W., with heavy sea." The 

 Anna Henderson says: — "Wind veering to N. ; on the 

 2nd increased to a gale, splitting several sails ; at 7 A.M. 

 on same day blew away the main topsail, the gale con- 

 tinued up to 6 p.m., than began to moderate." Their 

 courses after receiving the shock of the northerly gale 

 are represented by h i and j k, and these cannot be 

 far from the actual ones taken, as the positions It andy are 

 determined from observations quoted in the shipping re- 

 ports, and the ships having been small, with wind and 

 current both dead against them, must have been driven 

 in the directions indicated. Fortunate for them that it 

 was so, for by this accident they escaped the typhoon 

 altogether. With regard to the interior edge of the 

 typhoon, it would be impossible to ascertain how far it 

 extended ; but that there was a region of comparative 

 calm within its circumference is easily proved. The 

 Slant, from Newchwang, a port in the north of China, 

 when in 2i° 30' N. lat. and 115° 15' E. long., experi- 

 enced a gale, which, during the 2nd of Septembei-, 

 went right round the compass, clearly showing that the 

 ship was in the centre of the typhoon. But that the Siatn 

 did not feel the full force of the gale or anything like it is 

 equally clear from the trifling notice taken of its effects. 

 The date of this vessel's arrival in port leads us to be- 

 lieve that it scarcely altered its position during the gale ; 

 probably as the wind veered round it drifted northwards, 

 as indicated at g g in the map. The shipping 

 report states : — " 1st of September, in lat. 21'^ 30' N., 

 long. 115^ 15' E., when experienced another heavy 

 typdioon* from N.E. veering to N.N.W., and round to 

 S.S.E., with very heavy cross sea, and much rain ; on the 

 3rd inst. it began to moderate, wind from S. to S.S.E." I 

 think therefore we may fairly gather that the typhoon's 

 influence did not extend in any great degree to the right 

 or left of the course laid down for it in my map. 



Hence condition tltree is proven. 



The fourth condition scarcely requires demonstration. 

 The truth of it is apparent from the report of the wind at 

 Hong Kong up to 3 p.m. on the 2nd of September, and 

 that of the ship Woodbine, which occupied the most 

 westerly position of any of the vessels, from whose 

 accounts I have gathered my information. 



It seems therefore reasonable to assume that the typhoon 

 of the 2nd of September did t.ake the course indicated by 

 me, which is nearly that of a parabolic curve. Should 

 such be the case, it goes far to prove that these eccentric 

 phenomena have not a circular form, as has hitherto been 

 imagined. 



One of the most interesting facts that has been elicited 

 from these investigations is, however, the indication that 

 a space of comparative calm does exist within the circuit 



* This shows in how qualifieda sense the word "typhoon" must betaken 

 in reading the Stamps report. 



