Chap. XIII. 
EFFECTS OF THE TYPHOON. 
219 
round to a different quarter, and blew with increased 
violence. This is not unfrequently the case, and during 
these short lulls the vessels roll and labour in a dreadful 
manner, owing to the heavy swell of the sea, as they are 
then entirely at its mercy, and have nothing to steady 
them. 
In the preceding year this part of the country was 
twice visited by t3rphoons, viz. on the 1st of Septem- 
ber and 1st of October. In the island of Chusan, where 
they were particularly violent, the most disastrous effects 
were produced upon the crops. The little streams in the 
island were swollen into large rivers, and carried away 
everything before them. The crops of entire fields, 
chiefly paddy, were in some instances swept away, and in 
others sanded completely up, and rendered useless. The 
patched-up houses of our officers, who held the island at 
the time, suffered severely. During the typhoon of 1844 
a house built on the beach by one of the officers was 
actually lifting up, and would doubtless have been 
carried away by the force of the wind, but fortunately 
Brigadier Campbell, who was passing at the time, gave 
the alarm, and ordered out a number of men from the 
barracks, who held it down until it was rendered more 
secure. 
The wet and dry seasons in the southern and tropical 
parts of China are more decided in their character than 
they are in the northern portions of the empire. At 
Hong-kong and in the provinces of the south the winter 
season, that is, from October to March, is generally dry, 
more particularly in November, December, and January. 
The most wet months in the year are those near the 
L 2 
