1842.] A Sixth Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. 691 



1838. 



For this year the only notice I have obtained of, apparently, a 

 severe storm, is the following from the Chinese Repository of Sep- 

 tember 1838. 



The bark Claremont having sprung a leak, foundered near the 

 Ladrones on the 24th September. She encountered a gale on the 22d 

 in lat. 19° 2' N. and long. 114° 50' E. As this gale is not noticed as 

 having occurred in China, it was probably either of small extent if 

 the Claremont suffered from its Southern quadrant, or one passing 

 to the Southward of this latitude if she had the Northern quadrant 

 of it. We cannot even conjecture its track from this notice, but as 

 before observed, the date is always a record worth preserving. 



1839. 

 The Sunda's Storm. 



The British bark Sunda, by an account printed in the Canton press, 

 saw on the 7th October, 1839, at 6 p. m. the land of Tyloo, N. E.bN. 

 distant about 35 miles, weather very unsettled, and Barometer falling 

 fast. All preparations for bad weather were made, and at 9 o'clock, 

 the wind suddenly veered from N. N. W. to N. E.bE. and blew a 

 strong gale, when many of the sails were blown from the yards. At 

 3 a. m. of the 8th, it blew a hurricane accompanied with a tremendous 

 sea. At 8 a.m., it abated a little, but the sea more violent, and tossing 

 in all directions; from this time the wind continued to abate, but it 

 still blew a strong gale with a heavy sea till the 10th, when it became 

 moderate, the wind from the N. E. Vessel very much disabled by the 

 loss of her top-masts and sails. On the 11th, it was fine, at 4 a.m. 

 saw the Taya Islands W. S. W., distant 8 miles, when she bore up 

 and anchored under the lee of one of them, but in the evening it again 

 came on to blow from the E. N. E., when the cable parted, and she 

 was wrecked. The crew were kindly treated and sent to Canton by 

 the Chinese authorities. 



I am inclined to consider this storm as only a violent monsoon 

 gale, for there seems to have been no veering of the wind which 

 could authorise us to consider it a rotatory storm. We have many 

 cases in which the monsoon does sometimes set in with a gale rising 

 almost to the force of a hurricane, and the season was sufficiently 

 advanced for an early monsoon to begin. In Mr. Redfield's table of 



