Page:Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol 29.djvu/407

1860.] mass of very grandly shaped and massively grouped strata of cumuli, at various elevations, the lowest from actual measurement was 2000 feet above the earth; the highest, probably reaching to 25,000; the whole mass being about 5 miles in vertical thickness.

The aspect of the heavens during the past few days had been most remarkable: presenting a scene of great atmospherical disturbance, the clouds evidently being impelled from the south by the south-west monsoon; but violently checked by the north-east monsoon, giving to the whole mass of clouds extending for as many miles as the eye could reach from north to south, and from east to west, a rotary and at the same time an undulatory motion; in fact causing huge tracts of clouds to revolve rapidly round a centre that appeared from my position to be about 5 miles to the south-east. This rotary motion performed in a very large circle gave the clouds the appearance of moving in two distinct directions, for the clouds nearest to my position appeared to be going to the north, and those furthest removed appeared to be going to the south.

There had been but little rain during the day; in the early portion of the day the wind had been from the south bringing with it a large body of clouds from the sea; at noon it changed to the south-west; and at 2 to the west and at 4  to the north.

It was between the hours of 3 and 4 that the greatest disturbance in the clouds took place; the whole mass revolving and heaving violently; extensive masses of clouds being crushed and driven into others but unattended by any electrical discharges. It now rained heavily to the north and east. It was during this time that more than one waterspout endeavoured to form, but unsuccessfully. It was whilst observing the highly agitated masses of clouds that were revolving and oscillating in a most peculiar manner, that I witnessed the commencement and termination of the remarkable waterspout now under consideration. At 3 it became suddenly quite calm and during the calm a pale watery-looking but very lofty cumulus, the base of which was a right line, and parallel to the horizon, was seen to bulge out downwards or towards the earth in a long well-defined and light-blue coloured outline; from the centre of this hanging curve a broad column of a pale watery vapour rapidly sank towards the earth, closely resembling a very attenuated cone, dark at the edges and pale blue