OB, PLAIN TEACHING. 



3 



The barque which so proudly hath triurnph d 

 before, 



Is seiz'd by the surges, and dash'd on the 

 shore ; 



And the caverns laugh out with a terrible glee, 

 As the mariner sinks 'neath the conquering sea. 



an hour, a storm ; at ninety miles 

 an hour, a hurricane; and, if 

 accompanied by lightning, 10, 

 and other stormy phenomena, it 

 constitutes a tempest, 11. 



11 



106. 



THE GBOTJND SWELL. 



The waves are lamenting the deeds they have 

 done, 



Their proud heads droop down, though the 



battle they've won ; 

 They are stealing along, with a murmuring 



roll, 



Like the sighings of grief that burst forth from 

 the soul ! 



Around the torn wreck their deep wailings are 

 heai d, 



With the sorrowful cry of the storm-beaten 

 bird : 



And sad is the requiem sung by the waves, 

 Where the mariner sleeps in the gloom of tho 

 caves. 



The sea is also liable to various 

 uncommon 'phenomena, such as 

 whirlpools, 12, which are caused 

 by currents of the sea rushing 

 with great force against oceanic 

 mountains, or other obstacles ; or 

 by two strong currents meeting 

 and causing each other to whirl 

 round. These whirling currents 

 form a watery gulf, 13, into the 

 centre of which boats an4 even 

 ships, 14, are sometimes drawn 

 and sunk. Some whirlpools are 

 permanent, and depend upon the 

 mingling of periodical currents 



or tides. The one called JEuri- 

 pedes, near the coast of Greece, 

 alternately receives and returns 

 waters seven times in twenty- 

 four hours ; Charybdis, in the 



13 



107. 



s traits of Sicily, thrice in twenty- 

 four hours. In the great whirl- 

 pool, called the Malstrom, upon 

 the coast of Norway, whales, 15, 

 and large fishes have been drawn, 

 and have been unable to extri- 

 cate themselves. For six hours 

 this vortex of waters draws into 

 its gulf everything that comes 

 within its influence, and the next 

 six hours casts up the fragments 

 of the wrecks it has made. The 

 roaring of the waters of the 

 Malstrom may be heard many 

 miles distant. Another disturb- 

 ance of the sea is caused by 

 waterspouts, 17, created by whirl- 

 winds, which are themselves pro- 

 duced by the meeting of two 

 violent currents of wind. Some- 

 times these ivater-spouts are very 

 dangerous, being as much as two 

 hundred feet in diameter ; but 

 such large ones are rare. They 



