TORNADOS. 



157 



Hamerton, when sailing about the island, lost by 

 lightning his Baloch Sarhang (boatswain) ; he 

 himself felt a blow upon the shoulder like that 

 of a falling block. No blood appeared upon the 

 side, but it was livid to the hip, and for some 

 days the patient was decidedly c shaky. 5 Some 

 explained his escape by his wearing flannel; 

 others by his standing near the davits of a long- 

 boat, which were twisted like wax by the electric 

 fluid. 



The mainlands of Zanzibar and of Mozam- 

 bique are subject, as might be expected, to 

 tornados, which much resemble those of the 

 West African coast. Accompanying the forma- 

 tion and the dispersion of the nimbus, they are 

 often violent enough to wreck small craft. 

 Caught in a fine specimen, I was able to observe 

 all the normal phenomena, — the building up of 

 the warning arch, the white eye or gleam under 

 the soffit, the wind blowing off shore, the appar- 

 ent periodicity of throbs, and the frantic rage of 

 the short-lived squall. The cyclones and hurri- 

 canes of the East Indian Islands rarely extend to 

 Zanzibar. During 14 years there was but one 

 tourbillon strong enough to uproot a cocoa-tree. 

 It passed over the city about midnight, over- 

 throwing the Mdbandani or roof-sheds, and it was 



