1 70 Intelligence and Miscellanies. 



thrown by each flash into strong outline, struggling hard to 

 secure the canvass and to maintain their precarious footing: 

 the ship rolled tremendously. And now add the wild uproar 

 of elements, the " noise of many waters," the deep and con- 

 stant roar of winds, the cries of men aloft, the heavy and 

 rapid tread of those below, the reiterated orders of officers, 

 and the sounds of the trumpet rising above all ; and then 

 add to this the heavy rolling of thunder, at times drowning 

 all these sounds. The first lieutenant had the deck ; he had 

 sprung to it at the first alarm, and seizing the trumpet had 

 called for Black, his favorite helmsman. The ship was 

 soon under snug sail, and now dashed onwards at a furious 

 rate, giving to the gale a yet wilder character. All at once 

 a rocky island seemed to start up from the waters, but the 

 next broad flash shewed a good offing, and we were safe ; 

 when suddenly came a loud shout from the forecastle, "a sail 

 on the starboard bow," and then another, " a sail close on 

 the larboard bow." I trembled then ; not for ourselves, for 

 we should have gone over them and have scarcely felt the 

 shock, but for the poor wretches, whom it would have been 

 impossible to save. The helm was put hard down ; we shot 

 by, and I again breathed freely, when some one bade me 

 look up to our spars. I did so, and found every upper yard 

 arm and mast head tipped with lightning. Each blaze was 

 twice as large as that of a candle, and thus we flew on with 

 the elements of destruction playing above our heads. 



In about thirty minutes the wind, which was from the 

 S. W. changed suddenly to the S. E. and became as hot as 

 air from the mouth of an oven : it was the sirocco, and, I 

 was told afterwards by those most above the deck, brought 

 with it a quantity of fine sand. We were then a few miles 

 from Maratimo, sixty six from Cape Bon, the nearest African 

 shore, and three hundred from the nearest land in the direc- 

 tion of the wind. It lasted half an hour, and was a stiff*, 

 smacking breeze, but not near so strong as the one that had 

 preceded it. 



A similar electric phenomenon occurred to the ship in which 

 Castor and Pollux sailed, in the Argonautic expedition, only 

 the light appeared on the caps of the two heroes : the storm 

 subsided and they were received as patrons of sailors. Hence 

 the ancient medals represent them each with a star or flame 

 of fire at the apex of his cap. In this way too, we may ac- 

 count for the story, that they often appeared to sailors in dis- 



