166 THE NATUEALIST IN BERMUDA. 



Wateespouts. — September 12th, 1845. Hearing that a 

 waterspout "was to be seen in the vicinity, I ran out, and for 

 the first time in my life witnessed this phenomenon. 



To the eastward of the Court-house Hill, on which I stood, 

 appeared a dark cloud, slowly moving from north to south, 

 and, apparently, about one mile distant, from a portion of 

 which rain was falling. 



From the centre of this cloud, and in a part of it free 

 from the falling rain, descended a magnificent column of 

 the same colour as the vapour above. This column was 

 straight and almost perpendicular, and was pronounced by 

 a spectator of respectability, who had resided thirty years 

 in the Bermudas, to be the finest waterspout he had ever 

 beheld, 



I much regret that an intervening hiU prevented the base 

 of this column from being visible to me, as it must have 

 passed almost in immediate contact with the southern 

 shore of the Islands. 



This column of vapour — for it could be nothing else — 

 appeared to move at the same rate and in the same direc- 

 tion as the cloud, revolving in a direction the reverse to 

 that of the hands of a watch. The inside or centre of the 

 column appeared to be hollow, and filled with rapidly 

 ascending vapour, closely resembling the passage of smoke 

 up a chimney. After an existence of some minutes, the 

 column began to lose much of its density, particularly at 

 the extremities, and eventually the central portion of it was 

 alone visible, suspended in mid air, and still revolving. 

 Much gratified with what I had seen, I was on the point of 

 leaving, when a second waterspout was observed to be 

 forming on a portion of the same cloud, not far distant from 

 the preceding one. 



