WHIRLPOOLS. 
The waters of a river, or of the sea, are in some places obstructed 
by banks, rocks, or islands, or by winds and currents, and thus ac- 
quire a circular or spiral motion, forming what is called a ivhirlpool. 
The above engraving represents one of the most celebrated whirl- 
pools, that of Charybclis, in the Straits of Messina, between Italy and 
Sicily. The water is agitated in several different places at the same 
time within circular spaces, none of which, when the wind is mode- 
rate, exceed one hundred feet across. This agitation is produced by 
the wind acting in a sloping direction upon the rapid current which 
sets in from the north during six hours, and from the south during 
the next six hours, and so on alternately ; the changes taking place 
with the rising and setting of the moon. During a light wind a boat 
can be rowed over the spot without danger, though it will be much 
tossed by the waves ; but when the wind is high, the swelling of the 
waves is more violent and extensive, so that small vessels driven with- 
in the limits of the whirlpool may be sunk by the waves breaking 
over them, and large ones may be driven on the Italian shore, and 
wrecked on the rock of Scylla. Thus it is often said of persons in 
difficult and dangerous circumstances, that they are between Scylla 
and Chary bdis. The dashing of the waves on the bollow rocks about 
Cape Peloro produces a noise which is said to be like that of the barking 
of dogs, whence probably arose the fable that a monster surrounded by 
ferocious dogs devoured the mariners who might be wrecked on this 
coast. 
The Maelstrom on the coast of Norway, between the islands of 
Mosker and Warae, is a whirlpool of a similar kind, the dangers of 
which seem to have been much exaggerated. The tide there forms 
a current which runs with violence alternately from north to south and 
from south to north, and when this is met by a strong wind, a great 
agitation of the waves and a whirlpool is formed, the roaring of which 
is heard at the distance of many miles. At such a time vessels keep at 
a distance, in order to avoid being drawn into the current. Whales, 
seals, and other fish, when caught within its eddies, are dashed on the 
shores by the violence with which the waters rush through the channel. 
In moderate weather, at high and at low water, ships pass through the 
strait without danger. 
Among the Orkney Islands several small whirlpools, capable of 
whirling round a boat, are to be seen. But it is said that a log of 
wood, or a bundle of straw, thrown into the water, is sufficient to 
stop the revolving motion of many of them, after which boats can 
pass over in safety. The whirlpool of Coryvrechan in the narrow 
channel between Scarba and Jura in the Western Islands, is caused 
by a conical rock rising abruptly from the bottom, where the depth 
is six hundred feet, and reaching to within 90 feet of the surface. 
This obstruction in a winding rocky channel produces a succession 
of eddies, and when the flood tide sets in, with a fresh breeze in the 
opposite direction, the eddying waters rise in short heavy waves, which 
are very dangerous to boats, and even to decked vessels. 
When the rotatory movement is rapid the centre of the whirl- 
pool is the most depressed portion, and objects drawn within it are 
sunk at that point. 
Small whirlpools or eddies are not uncommon in rivers where the 
banks are very winding, or the bed much contracted. They are also 
formed about the piers of a bridge when the river is so much contracted 
as to cause its surface above the bridge to be much higher than the sur- 
face below. When the bed is of unequal depth vertical whirlpools are 
occasioned by the reflection of the water from the ascending slopes. 
Whirlpools sometimes do great damage in rivers by loosening the 
piles driven for the formation of dams ; and by lifting up earth and 
stones, and thus undermining the piers. 
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