20 Eleventh Memoir on the Law of Storms in India. [No. 157. 



two close reefed top-sails ; I may here add that I never saw the mercury 

 fluctuate so much, although it never fell lower than 29. 60.* 



\st December. — From midnight till daylight, the gale continued with 

 unabated force, with frequent hard squalls and heavy rain, and a 

 dreadful sea running, that washed away nearly all the bulwarks, 

 and drowned nearly the whole of the live stock. The sea was un- 

 commonly cross, and evidently produced from other causes, besides the 

 gale we were then in, and had we not taken the precaution to get every 

 thing well secured on deck, as well as made secure aloft, the conse- 

 quences might have been serious ; towards noon the weather cleared 

 away so far as to enable me to measure the sun's altitude, which placed 

 us in 10° 4' N. Long. 84° 1' E. p. m. the gale continued 

 with very unsettled weather, wind veering round to the Westward, 

 Bar. 29.60; towards midnight weather tolerably clear overhead, 

 but a dense wild looking haze all round the horizon, Bar. 29.25. 



2nd December. — The wind continued to veer to the Westward till 

 2 a. m. when it fell nearly calm, the weather then looking dismal 

 with continued flashes of vivid lightning and loud peals of thunder, got 

 all the canvas secured as fast as possible, which we had just time to 

 do when the gale burst out from about S. S. W. Fortunately we were 

 prepared for it, and had nothing set but a new small close reefed main- 

 top sail, which we lay to under till noon, Bar. stationary at 

 29.25. It is impossible for me to describe the sea that we had to contend 

 with. It had been blowing a gale (and no ordinary one,) from N. N. E. 

 round to S. S. W. for the last three days, and every way we looked a 

 mountain of water appeared coming towards us. Shortly after noon 

 the Bar. started up to 29.80, but the gale continued without any 

 abatement till midnight. 



3rd December. — The gale began gradually to abate and the Sea to 

 fall ; Barometer at daylight up to 29.90. 



Abridged Log of the Ship Fyzul Curreem, Captain J. Ballantine, 

 from Calcutta towards the Mauritius, reduced to civil time. 

 26th November, 1843 — Noon, fine breeze N. and cloudy, Lat. 

 7° 50' N. Long. 83° 59' E., course South, 7 knots per hour. p. m. and 

 to midnight squally. Wind steady at North and N. by E. 



* These fluctuations are highly interesting particularly when limits are given.— H. P. 



