CYCLONES OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC. 355 



tude 104° 5' W., made for Acapulco. It may be seen that this vessel was on the right of the 

 axis path of the storm. 



The Galindo, on the same route, experienced a severe hurricane on the 1st and 2d of October ; 

 was thrown on beam-ends and dismasted, and arrived at Acapulco at the same time with the 

 Belgrade. 



The Lavina, off Cape San Lucas, the southern point of California, October 5, was thrown on 

 beam-ends in a violent hurricane, and lay twenty-one hours. 



The Fanny, from Mazatlan, in the gulf of California, for San Francisco, was damaged in the 

 gale on the 5th and 6th of October, and put back to Mazatlan. 



The progress of this hurricane during four days appears to have been 1ST.W. by W. nearly, 

 at a rate not exceeding eight or ten miles an hour. 



Track 6. Amazon's Hurricane. — The brig Amazon, from New York for San Francisco, encoun- 

 tered a severe hurricane October 3, 1850, in latitude 13° 30' N., longitude 116° 50' W., which com- 

 menced at S.W., veering successively to S.E., E., N., W., ending at S.W., in which lost main- 

 topsail and foresail. Captain "Watt states that the gale was equally severe as those in the West 

 Indies. This off-shore hurricane was cotemporaneous with that last noticed. The following is 

 drawn from the account which was published by a passenger of the Amazon. 



October 4, latitude 13° 40' N., longitude 116° 30' W. ; last night the brig encountered a hur- 

 ricane, preceded by squalls from S.W., with heavy rain. The squalls increased in number and 

 intensity until 5 p. m., when the hurricane commenced ; brig under close-reefed fore-topsail and 

 mainsail. Captain Watts put his vessel before the blast, or "scudded" her. The tempest 

 raged during the night, with momentarily increased fury. It veered from S.W. to due south, 

 thence to S.E., and thence to N.E. and north, and from thence to S.W., thus making the circuit 

 of the compass ! According to our reckoning, it veered thirty-four points in the space of six 

 hours, during which time the brig was kept before it, in which lay our only chance of escape. 

 At 4 A. M. the foresail was blown from the yard, and the vessel was then brought to the wind, 

 but could not withstand the tornado, and was blown directly down on her side, or beam-ends. 

 Apprehending she would founder, the order was given to put her again before the wind, but 

 the attempt was unsuccessful. As a last resource, the main-topsail was let go, when she paid 

 off, and dashed away like lightning before the tempest. She was kept scudding until the hurri- 

 cane abated, and was then laid to in a heavy gale from S.W., into which the hurricane subsided. 



From the above we may infer that the course of the vessel while scudding was not unlike that 

 shown in the annexed figure. ^;__ 



The short time in which the bring ran entirely around the axis of the gale, >rC v\ 



after entering its violent portion, shows that its diameter was small, and that w. !\ ^"^> s 7 E - 

 Hs progression was remarkably slow. This slowness-is also shown by the man- 

 ner in which the brig, steering N. for San Francisco, was able' to overtake the \c 

 cyclone, and run into it, upon its southeastern side, where its wind was southwesterly. Hence, 

 too, after clearing the vortex of the cyclone, and heaving to, the duration of the exterior portion 

 of the gale wa.s so much prolonged, notwithstanding the drift of the vessel was in a direction 

 opposite to the progression of the storm. It is probable that this progression did not exceed 

 four miles an hour, and it may have been less. 



This is a slower rate of advance than I have yet found on the Atlantic ; but it accords well 

 with other cases which have occurred within the tropics, in the Indian ocean. It appears, 

 also, as having some relation to the slow rate of advance, already noticed in the cotemporaneous 



