The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1868-08-12
Water spouts at Sea.
STEMsHIP NEVADA.


rarely witnessed in any latitude, or in any
ocean, exciting the commingled admiration,
/ lear and astonishment of all hands on board.
/ Within the brief space of an hour, between
/ S and 8 o'clock, no less than three large water
/ spouts were visible from the ships deck, all
near enough to arouse dread apprehensions
as to the possible consequences. One of
them, the most formidable, made directly
towards the vessel, moving from the west
towards the sun, and apparently leaving no
chance for the escape of the ship except by
changing our course, which was done with
out loss of time. Another followed directly
in our wake at about the same speed as we
moved, and say only quarter of mile be-
! hind, for time leaving il altogether prob
lematical which would win the race While
this question was pending as may be readily
imagined, the mind of every person on board,
not excepting even veteran officers, remained
in painful suspense. OF course, with Capt.
Kelly (sometimes known on the vest coaet
as the "pet commander,') in command, no
precaution was neglected which tended to
insure the general safety. As a primary
movement, the big gun was got in readiness
to attack the strange visitor, should it ap-
proach too near, hoping TO break the sus-
pended column of water while yet at
distance, and thereby avert the threatened
deluge
The scientific world, equally with your
readers, may like description more in de-
tail, as the phenomenon may well be ranked
Bmong the latest of modern wonders. Avoid
ing technical phraseology, will premise as
follows:
This morning, June 3d-lat. 13' so N,
long 81 So w, air Sc, barometer 27.7e-
while the sun was partially obscured by con-
siderable masses of showery clouds, two
water spouts were seen some two and a half or
three miles due west, the ships course being
west-northwest. They seemed slowly to ap-
proach the vessel, the water beneath them
being in great commotion, partly from at
mospheric disturbance, and partly from the
festive gambols of an enormous school of
porpoises, which appeared to have chosen
this arena for their exploits. A heavy, dark
shadow rested over the surface of the water,
except in the comparatively small space at
the terminus of the spout, which, for con-
venience, might be called huge sea serpent,
suspended between heaven and earth. At
this point of contact, at the base of the
column, the spectacle was suggestive of a
seething cauldron, or a section of the leave
of the winds,' at Niagara, clouds of vapor
being drawn upward with tremendous vio-
lence. Above, rested heavy penumbra of
dark cloud, moving sluggishly, until, at last,
after an interval of fifteen or twenty min
utes, the serpentiDe column, at first up
right and rigid, could hold together no
longer, so oblique was the angle of in
clination, and the whole fabric suddenly van
ished from sight. The companion spout was
separated only by short distance, but was
of less magnitude, and disappeared almost
simultaneously, after performing evolutions
corresponding with those already described
and where lately the sea foamed with rage,
calm now succeeded, with nothing TO mark
the spot except swarms of gulls, attracted,
il may be, by carcasses of dead fish.
The temporary alarm on shipboard imme
al. Id ralaf
10 this extraordinary spectacle was begin
ming to flag, when your correspondent OBJ
served a small pear-shaped cloud forming
overhead, of a whitish ashen color, and,
watching carefully through a glass, noticed
presently that the stem began slowly to drop
or elongate. At the time, as testified to by
several witnesses, there was no perceptible
disturbance of the water beneath, but within
five minutes light feathers of spray began to
fly from the crest of the waves, at a distance
not exceeding 1000 yards, which might easily
have been mistaken for the splash of por-
poise, or the spout of q whale, and almost
Immediately ascending and descending fun
nels of white yapor, the latter very dark,
met in mid lair, forming a close connection,
the shape being serpentine, as before, at
tended by a gently undulating movement
from one extremity to the other. Rapidly
this column began to revolye, and acquired
q steadily progressive notion; the sea at its
base was changed TO a bed of foam and va
por, rounded into feecy cushion for the |
support of the lofty superstrueture; sound |
as of rushing, mighty wind" became dis |
tinctly audible this alone breaking the |
death-like stiffness.
The scene was sublime beyond descrip- |
ton, constituting every beholder to silence. |
Evel the occasional reverberations of thun- |
der noticed a few moments before, were |
hushed. But feelings of awe and wonder |
quickly gave place to impressions akin to |
terror, when it became evident that the ship |
lay directly in the path of the waterspOut, |
now towering high towards the zenith, aud |
which, by this time, had grown to huge pro-
portions, dark and threatening, its approach |
being heralded by screaming birds and por |
tentous roars Quickly all hands were or
dered below decks, the passengers rushing |
pell-mell down the companion-way, some of
them with affrighted shrieks. The brass gun |
on the forward deck for the moment proved |
the cartridge having been ranl-
med down wrong end foremost, and the |
printing wire mislaid. "For Gods sake, fire |
that gun," somebody cried, "or we are |
losti" Meanwhile the steam whistle shriek |
ed, and the ship was steered on different |
course, one or two volunteers assisting at /
the wheel. In the interval of extreme So
licitude that followed, imagination occupied /
itself in depicting frightful disaster. "Was |
il possible the steamer might sink if struck |
by the spouty' "Was there any spot offer |
ing secure retreat ?" or were "all the light |
upper works of the steamer liable to be |
crushed by the impending delugeT Sug-
gesiions like these were rapidly passed in |
review, and the hearts of strong men quailed |
within them.
But a calmer mood returned when the |
dreaded spout was seen astern, about TO dis
solve and pass harmlessly away. The last |
movements of dissolution were like the ex-
piring throes of the dolphin, so rapid and
varying were the different phases presented.
The column, which at first stood nearly per
dark, rigid and heavy against the |
clouds, (the upper terminus gently blending
with the body of vapor behind it, the lower,
veiled by fleecy wreaths of mist), was now
attenuated to d mere film spiral tube OF
most delicate texture, within which was OBJ
servable a tremulOus motion, as though the
lifting power was being relaxed, and it was
whether the dark body of water
within should finally yield TO the power of
gravitatiou, or ascend heayenward. For
moment, the light spiral network of the tube
was darkened by the downward rush of wa
ters. Then followed a partial return, when
To- the structure separated in mid-heayen,
and an immense body of water literally slid
down the funnel with heavy thud, as falling
lead, into the bosom of the deep. In other
words, the upward motion of the inclosing |
cylinder Of white vapor was reversed, and
then followed a headlong rush to the sea,
down the inclined plain. But this was not
ALL The falling column assumed the ap-
pearanee of a coil in rope "a lariat, for ex-
ample). The film that was drawn mp was
also coiled. After receding space, the lower
section seemed instinct with life, and re-
erected itself heayenward. The union thus
formed was but momentary, for when clap
Of thunder was heard the parts were olsen
gagged, one falling into the sea, and the other
boating away with the clouds-as the tail of
4 kite follows the wind, if broken from its
In the descent, dark, spherical
body was observed, having nearly the ap-
parent diameter of the moon at its full, which /