The Iowa transcript. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1858-1866, 1865-09-06

the present failure Of the wind The sky
was serene almost cloudless, with occasion
nj snowy puffs Of clouds in the northwest
and we confidently expected that the wind
would not forsake rs many hours.
Everything which preceded the event OF
the four hours following our being thus be
Gained, is exceedingly fresh in my memory
| Captain Bruce, our commander, was taking
his sesta under his blue striped awning, in
company with the FIRST Lieutenant who was
by no means an equestrian, but who was
talking horse like London jockey, to his s,l-
pcrior, in a vain effort To arouse him from
his luxurious repose. A number Of the men
had improviscd from dilapidatcd ioresail,
shelter for themselves from tie heat Of the
tropic sun. The midshpmen and several
other officers were still al their meal in the
gun rooms and my superior, DR. Carmichael
and myself, were discussing the force of big
waves and general metcorology nj the taflrail.
lie also told me of the great Barbados hur-
ricane OF 1850, when the great pillows roll
ing shoreward had washed up cannon, which
had been submerged for years, high and dry
on the single
'.rhc height of waves caused by the wind.
however" said the old gentleman, becoming
interested in his own talk, lis greatly cxag-
gerated They are never SO lofty as they
appear. They rarely exceed forty-fyc feet
in height, and ten feet is the average storm
wave of the Atlantic Ocean. The wave from
an earthquake is a different thing. In
the earthquake which destroyed Lisbon, a
portion Of the coast line suddenly subsidized
to the depth Of forty fathoms, and one mon
ster billow swept over whole provinces Of
Portugal, causing an enormous loss Of life
and property The wave produced by that
agitation, propagatcd very perceptibly to the
| North American coast, and impcrceptibly
probably vibrated through all the salt water
of the globe. never saw any wind waves
having any comparison to such as these, cx-
cept, perhaps. those Of n cyclone, which are
unqucstionably tremendous"
| He paused and said no more, for he must
have been surprised at three strange little
puffs Of wind, which suddenly tapped in his
face (they did in mine, three brief pufis in
rapid succession. and that wasall. But they
came as distinctly separate as three little
slaps from the playful fan of Spanish CO.
quette. had also voyaged long enough in
these seas to know that this portended more
than mere cap-full of wind, and instantly
| turned my eyes to the northwest.
The entire horizon was being rapidly heap
ed up with clouds. those towards the zenith
being white and tleecy, willis the mass in
creased in density and darkness nearer the
horizon. becoming black as ink at the sea line
and looking very like squal
Worse than a squall my boy, said DR..
Carmichael, to whom ! had communicated
my fears; and he Immediately directed Cap
| tain Bruce's attention to the alarming symp-
! toms
The commander instantly rose, gave the
| necessary orders and few seconds later,
~. 4 ~ y n, Al.
| men taking in sail. The fore and main-top
| gallant sails were alone kept flying, in order
| to steady her in ease of hard blow; but
| otherwise, every stitch of canvas was closely
turlcd. The Frcnchman, who was becalmcd
about two miles astern, was also on the look
out, and was already under bare poles, with
the exception Of his malntopsail.
What will il be, Doctor? only a white
squall." asked Captain Bruce. who placed
great reliance i'm Doctor Carmichaefs iudg-
ment.
Ill viii be at least Il hurricane was the
reply. Il only hope it will be nothing worse"
What ca, be worse z" said the Captain
laughing.
~ Cyclone replied the old gentleman.
who then resumed his stand with me Il, the
tafirail. and closely observed the approach
ing storm.
never before saw a tempest gather with
50 much rapidiiy. Accompanied by vivid
sheet lightning and distant thunder, cloud
after cloud shot up TO the zenith like rockets.
In five minutes after the little pulls of wind
have mentioned, the entire vault was COW
cred thckly with clouds which seemed to
grow denser every instant as VIC gazcd The
storm threw somhrc twilight over the sea,
while now and then the rack overhead was
ittnlly illuminated by lightning, torked on
sheet, and the heavy crashes Of thunder be-
came almost as continuous and deafening as
the artillery Of a great battle field. As yet.
however there was scarcely any perceptihle
| wind
NV attention was now rivetcd on n singu-
lar cloud which was in process Of formation
some distance to the west. The centre Of an
enormous rain cloud gradually but swiftly
sagged down, till it assumed the form of an
almost pcrfcc. funnel. the large end upper
most and at the same time, from the sea.
which appeared to be strangely agitatcd I'M
mcdiately beneath il. another formation
apparently Of mist, and of similar shape
versel--swiftly assembled to meet il. In
moment the .juncture was effected, the whole
presenting the form of an uncouth hour glass
Of colossal proportions, connecting the earth
with the sky.
Having never before seen phenomenon
| of this kind. directed the attention Of DR..
Carmichael to it, and he informed me that it
was Il water-spont
His worst apprehensions were we'll found
ed We were to have cyclone as he termed
it, or, to use my own phrascology, hurri-
cane in the shape Of whirl-wind.
Captain Bruce appeared very i'll ut ease,
and modify paced the deck, wondering aloud
why there was no wind, and wishing the
blow would come and be over with. The
other officers were also anxious. and all
| hands were on deck. All were interested in
| the singular aspect Of the approaching storm
| and the strange phenomenon of the water
spouts, for many others had commenced TO
| form between the ocean and the sky.
| The first one or, at least, the one which
| first attracted my attention, had rapidly
| grown in bulk and regularity Of form, and
| now presented the appearance half way up,
Of solid dark blue column. apparently of
sea water. while the upper or cloud part of
| it, had grown so dense that one wondered if
! it could be merely cloud. Indeed it would
be impossible to define where the vapor por
ton Of the spout ended, and where the water
portion commenced; and the former was
filled with SO much pent-up rain, That it prob
ably contained as much water as the latter.
Upwards of n hundred spouts Of different
mngnitudes had appeared as If by magic, but
they were still leagues away to the northwest
and it seemed to me that our apprchcnsions
had been rather premature until some one
sang out
i ..Thcrc's another ono off the starboard