10 
THE HUEEICANE, THE TYPHOON, AND THE 
TOENADO. 
By PBOFESSOE D. T. ANSTED, F.E.S. 
I N that beautiful and picturesque group of the West Indian 
Islands called the Virgin Islands, of which St. Thomas and 
Tortola are the largest and most inhabited, on the 29th October 
last, at nine o’clock in the forenoon, the weather was fine and 
the sky clear as usual, and the barometer stood at 30 inches. 
The harbour of St. Thomas was full of shipping, and in various 
sheltered spots between the harbour and the adjacent islands 
the steamers of the West India Mail Steam Ship Company were 
collecting, to exchange cargoes and passengers. No one at that 
hour seems to have foreseen mischief, but a storm was then ap- 
proaching that in a very short space should bring destruction on 
everything exposed to it. Within half an hour the barometer 
had fallen seven-tenths of an inch, and the hurricane commenced. 
It advanced rapidly, the wind changing as the storm neared. 
For a time it seemed that the storm would be unimportant, but 
towards noon the whole of the district near the town and to the 
east was in the centre of one of the great tornadoes that occa- 
sionally desolate the West Indies. At half-past twelve there 
was a cessation of wind, but the barometer showed a pressure of 
little more than 28 inches. The sky was then black and the 
darkness so thick that nothing could be seen either of cloud or 
sky. Deluges of rain fell, hailstones consisting of angular frag- 
ments of ice fell on the earth, earthquake shocks were felt, 
huge sea-waves swept over the earth, and none either at sea or 
on shore was safe from the terrible force of this great storm of 
wind. At this time the central axis of the storm passed over 
the town. By 5 p.m., the storm having lasted eight hours, all 
was over ; every ship was wrecked, every building destroyed, and 
a large part of the population ruined. Upwards of a hundred 
lives were also sacrificed. Such was the real meaning of the 
few terrible words flashed across the Atlantic by the telegraph 
a few clays after the occurrence. The details came later. After 
a few days the storm was followed by further and more serious 
earthquake shocks, and all the adjacent islands, especially Tor- 
