The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1915-06-25
FREAK OF The TIDE
Curious Phenomenon That Occurs
In the River Trent.
FURIOUS RUSH OF THE AEGIR.

Like Monster Tidal Wave the Water
From the Sea Sweeps Up the Stream
With an Angry Roar, FIinsins Its
Foam High into the Air.
Ware aeSir. Ware aegir!'
The river Trent has been flowing out
to the sea tor hours, leaving long
stretches of brown mud glittering il
the light of the setting sun. 1t is a
calm summer evening, and We sit wait
ing and listening on one of the old
wharves Of GainsDorough, Lincoln
shire The cry is taken up by every
boatman, who shouts it again upstream
"a strange. eerie warning.
Several small boats are now pushing
off into midstream to avoid the mass
Of churning water which breaks on the
foreshore A group of children add to
the tumult with shrill cry Of wild
aegir. Wild aegirr' which they con-
slider a much better rendering than
Ware aegir,'
By craning forward We can see it
now, rounding bend Of the river by
the shipyard. The first wave is big
and smooth, stretching right across
the river, with swirl of angry water
at each side: next follow five or six big
rollers, which roar and foam along,
leaving masses of broken water in their
wake These are called the 'whelps."
Presently we shall see the force OF
these "whelps" when they reach those
big, unwieldy, square nosed barges-
which, by the way, are called ''keels."
There is one such swinging at anchor
in midstream just opposite to US. For
the last half hour the old keelman has,
been lolling about the deck smoking hist
clay and looking idly at the water.
Now he is alert all at once, and,
knocking the ashes out of his pipe. he
gives turn at the windlass to tighten
the anchor chain. After glance alongl
the deck to see that all is secure, heI
looks back up the river. He is call
culating where the aegir will carry
him to.
There is another barge higher up the
river, and as yet nobody has stirred
on board. The old man has noticed
it, for he shouts, Ware aegir. Stoney,
my ladr' and young fellow jumps
up the hatch and runs to the tiller.
The distant swish has increased to a
roar now, and feeling Of intense e1S
citement grips US as we see small
boat rise up on the first wave and dis
appear for p moment in the hollow.
Up again she rises, right into the froth
of the "whelps" Another moment and
she is through into calmer water.
See! The billow dashes like a monster
tidal wave against wharf and splash
es high up into the air with a roar
and smother of white foam. Now it
has reached the keel" With a groan
and rattle Of chain. she rises to the
wave and is carried along with it, but
not very far, for the anchor holds fast
and she swings slowly round.
The keel is bToadside on now, and
the creamy WuelpS udSn 1ISut ONCA
her deck as she rolls in the trough OF
waves, but as quickly as it takes to tell
she swings stem on to the current,
which is now rushing upstream with
tremendous force, and will continue to
do so for two hours or more until high
water, when the water laZily returns
toward the sea.
The aegirs are not all as big as this
one; some are mere swell about
foot high. The best time to see them
is in the spring and autumn, when the
eauinoctial tides are big on the coast
Just below Gainsborough the aegir is
seen at it's best, as it rushes along
some of the longest reaches Of the
Trent.
This curious tidal phenomenon only
occurs on one or two other rivers in
Great Britain. the Severn being one OF
them, where it is known as the "bore. !
Those who have seen it, however, say
that it does not equal the aegir in any
way.-Wide World Magazine. |