REMARKABLE WHIRL^VIND. ^.j 



• Of this kind, commonly known under the title ofTypHONS, a moft vio- 



* lent one pafled down AJhley River, on the 4th o^ May ilbi, and fell upon the , 

 ' fhipping in Rebellion Road with fuch fury, as to threaten the immediate deftruc- 



' tion of a large fleet lying there ready to fail for Europe. 



' This terrible phsenomenon was feen by many of the inhabitants oi Charlef~ 



' town, coming down tVappoo Q-eek, refembling a large column of fmoke and 



' vapor, whofe motion was very irregular and tumultuous, as well as that of the 



' neighboring clouds, which appeared to be driving down nearly in the fame 



• diredion (from the fouth-weft), and with great velocity. The quantity of 



• vapor which compofed this impetuous column, and its prodigious velocity, gave 



* it fuch a furprifing momentum, as to plow JjI^Iey River to the bottom, and to 

 ' lay the channel bare, of which many perfons v/ere eye witnefTes. When it 

 t came dovfti Jjhley River it made fo great a noife, as to be heard by moft of the 

 ' people in town, and was taken by many for conftant thunder ; its diameter at 

 ' that time was generally judged to be about three hundred fathoms (though from 

 ' what I have fmce known of the breadth of the river, I am confident it muft 

 « have been nearer double) ; and in height, to a perfon in Broad-Jireet, Charlejlown, 

 ' it appeared to be about forty-five degrees, though it encreafed in magnitude 

 ' and height during its progrefs to Rebellion Road. As it pafTed the town, nearly 

 ' about the conflux of Cooper and JJhley rivers, it was joined by a column of the 

 ' fame kind, though not of the fame magnitude, which came down Coeper 

 ' River. Though this laft was not of equal flrength or impetuofity with the 

 ' other, yet, on their meeting together, the tumultuous and whirling agitations 

 ' of the air were feemingly much greater ; infomuch that the froth and vapor 

 ' raifed by its fides in the river, feemed to be thrown up to the apparent height 



* of thirty-five or forty degrees towards the middle ; whilft the clouds, which were 



* now driving in all direftions to this place, appeared to be precipitated into the 

 ' vortex, and whirled around at the fame time with incredible velocity : juft 

 ' after this it fell on the fhipping in the Road, and was fcarce three minutes in its 



* paflage, though the diftance is near two leagues. Five veflels were funk out- 



* right ; his majefty's ftiip the Dolphin, which happened to be at anchor juft on 



* the edge of the column, and all others in that fituation, loft their mafts ; the 

 « other unfortunate five, which lay in the dired line of its progrefs, were inftan- 

 ' taneoufly funk. Whether was this done by the immenfe weight of this column 



* prefllng them into the deep ? or was it done by the water being fuddenly 



* forced from under them, and thereby letting them fink fo low, as to be im- 

 ' mediately covered and ingulphed by the lateral mafs of water ? This tremen- 



* dous column was feen upwards of thirty miles fouth-weft from Charlejiown, 



G 2 where 



