On the Gales and Hurricanes of the Western Atlantic. 119 



fected by the violence of the wind, which at the same time may be 

 raging with destructive fury at the distance of a few leagues. The 

 writer has knowledge of many such examples. 



It has been suggested that " the larboard tack is the proper one to 

 lie-to on, as the wind will then be found to draw aft ;" but this will 

 frequently prove erroneous, as the wind may draw either way, on 

 either tack, according to the position and course of the ship, in the 

 storra, and the extent and rate of progress of the latter. In the case 

 of the fleet which encountered the gale of 1782, it was probably the 

 best course to carry sail to the northward at the very commencement 

 of the gale, and as far and as long as possible. By this means, the 

 fleet might perhaps, have been drawn as far northward as the point 

 A on the figure, and the change of wind to the northward and west- 

 ward would then have been rendered more gradual. The chief dif- 

 ficulty and danger is when the direction of the wind at the first set- 

 ting in of the gale, is found to be nearly at right angles with the 

 known courses of the storms in the region where the gale is encoun- 

 tered, and it is then desirable to pursue such a course as to avoid, if 

 possible, falling into the heart of the storm. 



The following passage is found in a late edition of the Atlantic 

 Mfemoir, at the head of the article on Hurricanes. 



" A hurricane is a tempest of the most extraordinary violence, 

 forming a kind of imperfect vortex, towards the center of which 

 the wind proceeds, successively and abruptly, from different points 

 of the horizon. Of such phenomena, the most violent and destruc- 

 tive in the western hemisphere, are known to originate in or near the 

 West Indies ; and they commonly proceed in a cycloidal line, from 

 their point of origin, to the W. N. W., N. W. and N. ; or if limited 

 to the West Indian sea, from E. S. E. to W. N. W. as well as from 

 TV. N. W. to E. S. E."— Memoir, page 97, 1th edition. 



and as involving, in the case of storms, the production of rain, and all the other 

 incidental phenomena which result from such organized action. The true char- 

 acter of these rotative movements, does not appear to have been closely studied by 

 men of science, and however necessary or desirable a more correct knowledge of 

 these movements may be, in order to a just apprehension of the subject before us, 

 still a discussion of their specific character, and of their agency in the production 

 of the most important atmospheric phenomena, even if the ability were possessed, 

 would be foreign to our present object. It is believed, however, that a proper de- 

 velopment of this subject would do much to illustrate, in a clear and satisfactory 

 manner, the formation and production of storm-clouds and rain, and especially of 

 summer hail, as well as all violent electric phenomena. 



