Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 29.djvu/398

368 but he has also learnt how to make use of for his own purposes one of the most fearful and hitherto ungovernable and tremendous natural phonomena, the cyclone: meeting at sea with this violent and formerly much dreaded wind, the intelligent sailor boldly sets his sails to meet it, and by his intelligence and foresight makes what might, in his ignorance, have been his destruction, a fair and a favorable wind to help him on his way to his desired haven; or else, laying to, he bows to the storm and patiently allows it to pass on its way, resuming his journey when it has passed. And so it should be with waterspouts, to thoroughly search out, and to understand the laws that govern these impetuous columns would not only be satisfactory to science, but might be the means of affording some protection to those who are liable to be harmed by them; mankind possessing this knowledge might be able to disarm these solumns of their power of uprooting trees, overturning houses, sinking small vessels, disabling others, of demolishing valuable plantations and cultivation, and carrying destruction in their path; but our knowledge concerning waterspouts, as it at present stands, allows these phenomena full power to do as they please.

The formation, action and dispersion of the waterspouts observed, being very similar, I proceed to detail the above appearances in a very grand waterspout that occurred within 1¼ miles of my house, merely observing, that there appear to be only two methods for their dispersion, namely either by precipitation of vapour to the earth as heavy rain; or absorption upwards as vapour into the clouds.

On the 7th October, 1859, a waterspout of colossal dimensions was seen to form and burst at Dum Dum 8 miles north-east of Calcutta. (See plate I. and plate II. fig 3.)

The observations made upon this phenomena at the time are as follows:—

The south-west monsoon had, during the week, received its first check by the north-east monsoon endeavouring to cross the Himalyah Mountains and to drive back the heavy masses of clouds and moisture that had been banked up along their flanks during the whole of the rainy season, or during the prevalence of the south-west monsoon.

At Dum Dum, the whole visible heavens were occupied by a dense