Account of a Water Spout, 171 



Art. XXIV. — An account of a Water Spout, seen off the 

 coast of Florida, in the spring of 1826 ; by Benjamin 

 Lincoln, M. D., Boston. 



April 5th. — At 6 o'clock, A. M. an order was heard from 

 the deck to get ready the gun on the weather quarter, and 

 bring the muskets from the cabin. Recollecting what re- 

 gion we were then in, my first thought was of an engage- 

 ment with a piratical cruiser, but on going upon deck it ap- 

 peared that our enemy was a water spout ; bearing north, 

 distant, according to the captain's estimation, about two 

 miles, and coming down upon us before a whole-sail breeze. 

 One musket was fired at it, but it had nearly effected a re- 

 treat before we got ready for action. I had just time to see 

 it and it disappeared. 



In the course of a few minutes another appeared, which 

 was said by the officers of the vessel to be much more dis- 

 tinct than any one they had ever seen before. 



I observed it attentively, but neglected to note the time, 

 except at its commencement and at the end of a third water 

 spout which appeared after the second and principal one 

 had passed away. This omission renders it impossible to 

 give the duration of its different stages with any good degree 

 of exactness. 



The wind came from the land, blowing a whole-sail breeze. 

 The thermometer stood at 72°. A black cloud, from which 

 the spout proceeded, extended along from east to west ; its 

 lower edge very distinctly defined, even, parallel to the sur- 

 face of the water, and elevated 25° or 30° above the horizon. 

 No other cloud was visible in that quarter, but a haziness 

 covered the whole heavens. 



A small, black and perfectly defined cone (fig. 1. A.) dart- 

 ed from the lower edge of the cloud and pointed perpendic- 

 ularly to the water, which at the same moment was seen fly- 

 ing upwards like spray on the rocks (fig. 1. B.) It was dis- 

 tinctly noticed that the cloud grew blacker near the cone, ap- 

 pearing to be gathered in from all quarters and condensed 

 at this point. 



After the lapse of two or three minutes, the cone instanta- 

 neously extended itself to about twice its first length (fig. 2. A.) 

 and the water was thrown up higher (fig. 2. B.) This con- 

 tinued a few minutes ; — then the apex of the cone suddenly 

 disappeared, leaving the truncated end jagged, (fig. 3. A.) 



