144 APPENDIX. 



I think it most likely slie first encountered the storm from the S. then 

 S.W., and so on. The ship sunk in Lat. 46° 31' N. and Long. 8° 40' W. 



The Royal Mail Steam Ship " Khone", Captain R. Woolward, Comman- 

 der, on her way from Southampton to Lisbon, fell in with the same gale. 

 The Captain says, in a letter to the' Secretary of his Company : — " We encoun- 

 tered a severe cyclone on the 11th instant, wind from S.E., veering eastward 

 to north, in which I am sorry to say the two life-boats on the port side, and 

 the cutter were lost, the starboard cutter and mail boat damaged, the rails 

 and deck furniture much injured, two horses killed, and one of the crew had 

 his leg broken. I have never before experienced such a gale. The barome- 

 ter fell an inch and 11-100 in 12 hours, going as low as 28-34, and although 

 the wind was fair, we were obliged to lie to for ten hours." 



This is valuable information, and with that supplied by the crew of the 

 " Amalia," we gain a fair insight into the character of the storm. 



Again on the 14th January, the P. & O. Company's Steam Packet " Tan- 

 jore," arrived from the Mediterranean, having experienced very heavy 

 weather in the Bay of Biscay, during which " phosphoric balls," as my inform- 

 ant called them, appeared on the extremities of her yard arms. This may, 

 or may not be a characteristic of tropical storms, but whether it be so or not, 

 I mention the fact as one worth recording. 



With such evidence before us, I hardly think any one will be disposed to 

 question the revolving character of the late Bay of Biscay storms. 



The next consideration is, whether there have been any great tropical 

 storm, or storms, in the centre of the Atlantic, which might be connected with 

 the storms recently experienced on the coast of England and France. 



Of this I think there can be little doubt. The " Palinurus," from Liver- 

 pool, and the American Ship " Christiana," from London, both bound to New 

 York, found themselves, at half passage involved in a furious hurricane, which 

 crippled the first, and made a complete wreck of the second. Unfortunately, lean 

 obtain no reliable data whereby to fix the locality of this storm upon the map, 

 or to trace it in its progress to England. All my calculations, so far, have 

 failed in any useful result, beyond an impression that the storm was much 

 slower in direct progress than such storms on the western side of the Atlantic. 



Thus the Christiana had the storm on the 19th and 20th December — no 

 latitude and longitude given. The Palinurus in longitude 39° 20' — no date 

 stated. 



Mariners, in describing the storms that have recently passed over this part 

 of the world, almost invariably allude to the presence of a heavy cross sea, as 

 one of the great difSculties they had to contend with. 



A gale, blowing in a straight line, will cause the ocean swell to roll in one 

 direction only ; and, if tv.-o straight gales should meet from opposite points, or 

 at right angles, a cross sea would be the result. 



These cross seas are very perplexing if not dangerous. In my December 

 voyage across the Atlantic, the vessel I sailed in, was unfortunately becalmed 

 in a very heavy cross sea, and the awful wildness of the extraordinary ssene 

 I shall never forn;et. Ilufie waves were roUintr in difTcrent directions and 



Ll\ 



