t 

 CYCLONES OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC. 351 



With the knowledge of storms which we now possess, our ships should not he thus disabled 

 in open sea. 



THE FREAK'S TYPHOON, OF MAY, 1850. 



The English brig Freak, T. B Simpson, master, met with a cyclone on the first of May, 1850, 

 in latitude 19° 28' N., longitude 138° 44' E., which set in at E. by S. and increased to a hurri- 

 cane of great severity. During the remainder of that day the brig ran westward, with an 

 increasing gale, which ranged between E. by S. and E. by N. At midnight, the master began 

 to suspect that he was approaching the vortex of a cyclone that was travelling to the northwest, 

 and at 1 a. m. of 2d, he hove to on the starboard tack to allow it to pass him. After heaving 

 to, the wind continued steady at E. by N., and commenced blowing a hurricane, except with a 

 partial remission, at 6 A. m. A.t noon the wind became E.N.E., with barometer at 29.22, near 

 latitude 19° 40', longitude 136° 40' E. Had the strength of the cyclone between 2 and 3 p. m., 

 when the fore-topmast and main-topgallant-mast were broken off by the force of the wind, which 

 at this time was beyond description. At 3.50 p. M. barometer had fallen to 28.87 — its lowest 

 point. The wind from noon, continued to haul to tlie northward — its greatest strength being 

 from about N.E. by N., and the master thus found, to his surprise, that he was in the north- 

 west quadrant of the cyclone and on the left side of its path, it having already recurved to the 

 northward and eastward. From 4 p. M. the barometer began to rise and the force of the gale 

 to decrease, and it became steady for a time at N.N.W. 



The easterly winds of this cyclone having veered by the north, the master's inference, that 

 the recurvation of. its path took place during the time in which his vessel was exposed to the 

 gale, appears correct — the center having recurved southward and eastward of the vessel's place. 

 His full account may be found in the Nautical Magazine for 1851, pages 273-275. 



Marian Islands. — The island of Guam, in latitude 13° 26' N., longitude 144° 52' E., and the 

 other islands of the Ladrone or Mariana group, are understood to be subject to hurricanes, for 

 which the inhabitants prepare by lashing down and securing their houses. They are expected 

 in the months of June, July, and August ; also, in December and January. — Nautical Magazine, 

 1843, p. 6. 



[The delay of the press enables me to state here that Guam was visited on the 23d of Sep- 

 tember last [1855] by a typhoon of the most violent character. The account states that "the 

 storm commenced in the morning and kept on increasing until 11 p. M., when it burst upon the 

 place with all its power. No tongue can tell nor. pen describe the perils of that night. In less 

 than twenty minutes more than eight thousand persons were left without a house or roof to 

 protect them from the fury of the storm. 



" All the houses upon the island of Guam, with the exception of ten or twelve stone buildings, 

 were destroyed and scattered in every direction. The rain fell in torrents, and, as it touched 

 the lips, it tasted as salt as though it came from the ocean. Thousands of cocoa-nut trees, 

 (which is a very tough wood,) laden with fruit, were crushed like so many slender reeds, torn 

 up by the roots and thrown into all shapes. Nearly everything that carried its head above 

 ground was destroyed."] 



CYCLONE OF THE J. N. GoSLER, MAY, 1855. 



The American ship J. N. Gosler, from San Francisco, for Hong Kong, experienced a heavy 

 typhoon on the 28th of May, 1855, in latitude 16° 40' N., longitude 147° 45' E., nearly two 

 thousand miles from the Chinese coast. She carried away sails, spars, &c, and was abandoned 



