358 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



Track 13. — The ship Sylph, F. N. Gardiner master, on her passage from Panama for San 

 Francisco, encountered a severe hurricane on the 21st and 22d of June, 1849, in latitude 15° 55' 

 N., longitude 116° 16' W. This position is intersected hy track 8 on the chart, which thus 

 may represent hoth storms, as their tracks must have coincided nearly. 



In order to bring into one view the storm paths of hoth the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, I 

 have placed on the eastern border of the chart the tracks of five of the cyclones of the Atlantic 

 basin, which are taken from my storm charts previously published. 



RECURVATION OF STORM PATHS IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC. 



In the case of the cyclone marked (7,) we find direct evidence of its recurvation on the Mexi- 

 can coast, near latitude 20° N. It is quite probable that other cyclones of this group had 

 already commenced their recurvation at the time of our latest notices of their progress. Such 

 cyclones as recurvate near latitude 21° N., and near the coast, fall directly upon the Mexican 

 shores of the Californian Gulf. These storms sometimes exhibit great violence at and near the 

 ports of Ipala, San Bias, and Mazatlan. 



One of these cyclones, represented as a "terrific gale," occurred so late as June, 1855 ; and 

 I have seen a number of accounts of similar visitations. On the first of November, 1839, accord- 

 ing to Commander Hamilton, of her Majesty's ship Frolic, twelve ships were surprised by one of 

 these gales in the port of Mazatlan, and the greater part were lost, and all on board perished. 

 And on the first of November, 1840, three vessels were lost in the road of San Bias, and several 

 people were drowned, without it being possible to render them any assistance. 



Most of the cyclones which I have last described, however, must have recurvated in a more 

 advanced position in the Pacific ocean ; and in their subsequent northeasterly progress they 

 would fall almost perpendicularly upon the coasts of the two Californias, or the more north- 

 ern territories. Thus, instead of sweeping a great length of these coasts successively, as hap- 

 pens on our Atlantic border, these cyclones appear more like local storms, and cannot be traced 

 consecutively on the coast line. At the point of intersection with the coast, the first and main 

 portion of the gale will be felt from the southeast, on its centre path, or more southerly, in its 

 right-hand quadrants. And near the coast, the northeasterly or reflex winds of the cyclone, 

 pertaining to its first left-hand quadrant, will not be strongly developed. 



We learn from Lieutenant Commander Wood, of her Majesty's ship Pandora, that from Cape 

 San Lucas to San Diego, or from latitude 23° to latitude 32° N, the coast is subject to violent 

 gales from S.E. from November to April, and that they are more frequent as we go towards 

 San Diego. Before their recurvation, these cyclones are likely to have passed westward in 

 lower latitudes than those which fall on the Mexican coast. 



From San Diego to San Francisco, the coast is subject to southeasterly gales, like those of 

 the coast of Lower California, but they are more frequent here, and blow with greater force. 

 These gales, according to Lieutenant Wood, " last from twelve hours to two days, and are accom- 

 panied by heavy rain, which lasts till the wind changes, which it often does very suddenly, and 

 blows as hard for a few hours from the northwest, when the clouds clear off, and fine weather 

 again succeeds." This is a clear description of the phenomena of cyclones, as shown on their 

 center-paths, while moving in a northeasterly course. 



The same authority states that, from San Francisco to the Straits of Juan de Fuca, hard 

 gales from all points of the compass may be looked for at all seasons. These begin generally 

 from southeast to southwest, bringing thick rainy weather with them. After blowing from 



