204 National Geographic Magazine. 
the whole subject, has shown that such is the case, although he 
states that “the position of this belt [of imtensified trades] dif- 
fers in every hurricane region, so that a special set of rules are 
necessary for each country.” It seems to me, I must say, that in 
the absence of such special rules the law may safely be assumed 
to be general ; its importance to navigators is certainly very 
great, and its principal effect must be to urge the greatest cau- 
tion in making any attempt to cross the track of a hurricane, 
from the dangerous to the navigable semicircle. 
The next plate, 
THe Hurricane oF NOVEMBER 25, 1888, 
is a very instructive illustration of an actual hurricane, and one 
of the most severe on record off our Atlantic coast. The spiral 
lines have been added to bring out conspicuously the wind-circu- 
lation, and several features will at once attract attention : the 
elongated shape of the storm, along a north and south line (the 
direction of motion); the wide region where there is a southeasterly 
gale (exactly analogous to the belt of intensified trades) ; the 
long sweep of northeasterly winds along the coast; and the marked 
variation from a strictly circular whirl. The right-hand side is 
the dangerous semicircle, and it is here that the navigator is 
called upon to decide whether he shall dare make the attempt to 
run before the wind and cross the track of the storm ; the left- 
hand side is the navigable semicircle,—not very navigable in this 
particular case, we may well believe, with no sea-room to the 
westward, a fearful N NE. gale, and a terrific sea. This is a 
case where every resource of seamanship and navigation may 
fail to save a ship, as the loss of the steamship “Samana” and a 
dozen other strong vessels, with all on board, bears sad testimony. 
Let me quote a few lines from a thrilling report by Captain Drew,. 
of the American ship “Sea Witch” (this vessel’s position is 
plotted on the chart about lat. 32°N., long. 75°W.): “Nov. 24: 
Hurricane from NE.; our position a perilous one, the ship roll- 
ing heavily and filling the decks with water ; an awful gale, the 
worst we have ever had,—how will it end? At 3p. M., the sun 
out a moment through the thick sky. Nov. 25: Still blowing a 
hurricane, with awful squalls of rain ; the seventh day of the 
gale. No side-lights can burn ; the binnacle-light goes out as 
fast as we can light it. One blast from the north blew our brand- 
new lower-maintopsail away like brown paper. We performed 
