608 A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 127. 



" We had another tiffoon in August, when all the European ships at 

 Wampoa drove with three anchors a-head. The Chinese junks and 

 boats then in the river were most of them sunk, and the number of 

 poor souls that perished in this hurricane is incredible. I repaired 

 my damages as well as I could at Canton, but I was obliged to come 

 away with only two cables." 



Captain Biden's note upon this log, is as follows: "The extraordi- 

 nary drift of the London from near Macao to the N.E. Coast of Hainan 

 is worthy of remark. It appears she stood to the southward about four 

 hours when the gale flew round from E. N. E. to S. E. Allowing her 

 to have made thirty miles in those four hours ; this ship must have 

 experienced an amazing current to the S. S. W., the distance from the 

 Grand Ladrone to Hainan, being about 180 miles, and much of the 

 time the hurricane was from S. E. and S." — C. B. 



It seems most probable, that this was a storm travelling along the 

 South Coast of China, or from about E. N. E. to W. S. W., and that 

 the London crossed its track, and not far from the centre, at 8 a. m. 

 I have therefore laid it down as one of the probable tracks only, 

 though from the ship's position, and the shift of wind being so well 

 ascertained, we may infer that we are not far from the truth. The 

 extraordinary drift would be quite incredible, did it not also rest upon 

 good evidence, and it should be borne in mind by the seaman as at all 

 events a possibility in like cases. It will be subsequently seen that in 

 September 1803, the H. C. S. Warley was also driven from off 

 St. John's to the Taya Islands, or about the same distance in about 

 56 hours, and that other instances of this dangerous storm-current 

 have occurred. 



1793. 



On the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of Dec. 1793, the Honorable Company's 

 Ships Royal Charlotte, Triton, and Warley, bound to China, by 

 copies of their logs received from the India House, were driven from 

 Lat. 20° 9' N., Long. 119° E.; to Lat. 17° 29' N. Long. 116° 38' E. 

 or about 220 miles to the Southward and Westward by a heavy 



