122 On the Gales and Hurricanes of the Western Atlantic. 



on this subject, that it seems to be difficult, even for those who ad- 

 rait the rotative character of these hurricanes, to understand correctly 

 the true bearing and relations of the different phases of the wind, 

 which are presented at two or more points or places, visited by the 

 sam€ storm, unless the subject has been thoroughly and carefully 

 studied. Speculative opinions also upon the course of a storm, are 

 usually, if not always, founded upon the erroneous notion of a recti- 

 linear course in the wind. In the accounts received of a hurricane 

 at Barbadoes on the 3d of September, 1835, which raged for a few 

 hours from E. N. E. fears were expressed for the safety of the islands 

 to the northward ; but subsequent intelligence from Guadaloupe and 

 Martinico, shewed that the gale had not extended to these islands. 

 Had the direction and phases of the wind been viewed in their true 

 relations, it would have been perceived that the heart of the gale 

 must have passed to the southward of Barbadoes ; and as a general 

 rule in the West India latitudes, where the onset of the storm is found 

 to be in the general direction of the trade wind, or more eastward, 

 the observer may consider himself as under the northern verge of 

 the gale ; but if the onset of the gale be from the north-westward, 

 veering afterwards by the west to the southern quarter, the heart of 

 the storm will be found to have passed to the northward of the point 

 of observation, the latter being under the southern margin of the gale. 

 Among other proofs of the circuitous action of violent winds, is the 

 fact that the track of a vessel which runs directly before the gale, 

 will in many cases, be found to be strikingly curvilinear when traced 

 on the chart ; in other words, the veering of the wind which so often 

 occurs, when duly considered, is in itself, a complete demonstration 

 of the fact in question. Many readers will recollect the case of a 

 vessel driven from Falmouth in the great hurricane of 1703, by a 

 circuitous course to the Isle of Wight, with only a cabin boy on board, 

 which course clearly indicates the phases of one marginal section of 

 that memorable storm. It can but seldom happen, however, that 

 the track of a vessel which scuds through a gale, will fully develop 

 the entire circuit of the wind, the combination of circumstances neces- 

 sary to this result being but rarely encountered. Still I have obtain- 

 ed notice of a few such cases, and a respectable ship-master not long 

 since informed me that he once scudded for twenty-four hours, under 

 a typhoon in the China sea, and on its departure, found himself 

 nearly in the position where he first took the gale. 



