302 



MEXICO. 



curled and broke into a white sheet of foam as far 

 as the eye could reach. The sea looked bleak 

 and stormy under the portentous influence of an 

 immense mass of dark clouds, rising slowly in the 

 western quarter, till they reached nearly to the 

 zenith, where they continued suspended like a 

 mantle during the whole day. The ships which 

 heretofore had lain motionless on the surface of 

 the bay, were now rolling and pitching with their 

 cables stretched out to seaward ; while the boats 

 that used to skim along from the shore to the 

 vessels at anchor, were seen splashing through 

 the waves under a reefed sail, or struggling hard 

 with their oars to evade the surf, breaking and 

 roaring along the coast. The flags that were 

 wont to lie idly asleep by the sides of the mast, 

 now stood stifily out in the storm. Innumerable 

 sea-birds continued during all the day, wheeling 

 round the rock on which the town stood, and 

 screaming as if in terror at this sudden change. 

 The dust of six months'* hot weather, raised into 

 high pyramids, was forced by furious gusts of 

 wind into the innermost corners of the houses. 

 Long before sunset, it seemed as if the day had 

 closed, owing to the darkness caused by the dust 



