TORNADOES. 
135 
moving northwest to the United States and then 
along the eastern coast parallel to the Gulf Stream. 
As they turn northwest their force begins to dimin¬ 
ish, though they often strand small craft as far north 
as New Jersey. 
Hurricanes rotate about a central point, like the 
cyclone I have described, but in a contrary direction 
—that is, with the hands of a watch. As their diame¬ 
ter is smaller than that of the cyclone, their destruc¬ 
tive power is correspondingly greater. 
Hurricanes also occur in the southern part of the 
Pacific Ocean, but none have been seen in the south¬ 
ern Atlantic. Those wdiich accompany the Japan 
current in the China Sea are called typhoons. 
These storms are often very dangerous to life and 
property along the shores which they touch, not only 
on account of the force of the wind but because of 
the high ocean wave which they roll over the low- 
lying coast lands. Sometimes stanch ships caught in 
the path of a hurricane or a typhoon are destroyed. 
In 1885, on the Samoan Islands several war-vessels 
were wrecked by such a storm. 
