HURRICANES IN THE BAY OF NORTH AMERICA. 177 
“ Sunday , September 4-th, the trades left us, in latitude 22° 
north, longitude 51° west, directly under the tropic of Cancer. 
For several days we lay ‘ humbugging about ’ in the Horse 
latitudes, with all sorts of winds and weather, and occasion¬ 
ally, as we were in the latitude of the West Indies, a thunder¬ 
storm. It was hurricane month, too, and we were just in 
the track of the tremendous hurricane of 1830, which swept 
the North Atlantic, destroying almost everything before it. 
The first night after the trade-winds left us, while we were 
in the latitude of the island of Cuba, we had a specimen of 
a true tropical thunder-storm. A light breeze had been 
blowing from aft during the first part of the night, which 
gradually died away, and before midnight it was dead calm, 
and a heavy black cloud had shrouded the whole sky. When 
our watch came on deck, at twelve o’clock, it was as black as 
Erebus; the studding-sails were all taken in and the royals 
furled; not a breath was stirring; the sails hung heavy and 
motionless from the yards; and the stillness and darkness, 
which was almost palpable, were truly appalling. Not a 
word was spoken, but every one stood as though waiting for 
something to happen. In a few minutes the mate came for¬ 
ward, and in a low tone, which was almost a whisper, told 
us to haul down the jib. The fore and mizzen top-gallant 
sails were taken in in the same silent manner; and we lay 
motionless upon the water, with an uneasy expectation, 
which, from the long suspense, became actually painful. We 
could hear the captain walking the deck, but it was too dark 
to see anything more than one’s hand before the face. Soon 
the mate came forward again and gave an order, in a low 
tone, to clew up the main top-gallant sail; and so infectious 
was the awe and silence that the clew-lines and buntlines 
were hauled up without any singing out at the ropes. An 
English lad and myself went up to furl it, and we had just 
got the bunt up when the mate called out to us something j 
we did not hear what,—but, supposing it to be an order to 
bear-a-hand, we hurried and made all fast, and came down, 
feeling our way among the rigging. When we got down we 
