Page:Physical Geography of the Sea and its Meteorology.djvu/403

Rh he strives in vain to conceal. Day and night we now have thunder-storms. The clouds are in continual movement, and the darkened air, laden with vapour, flies in all directions through the skies. The combat which the clouds seem to court and to dread appears to make them more thirsty than ever. They resort to extraordinary means to refresh themselves; in tunnel form, when time and opportunity fail to allow them to quench their thirst from the surrounding atmosphere in the usual manner, they descend near the surface of the sea, and appear to lap the water directly up with their black mouths. Water-spouts thus created are often seen in the changing season, especially among small groups of islands, which appear to facilitate their formation, The water-spouts are not always accompanied by strong winds; frequently more than one is seen at a time, where-upon the clouds whence they proceed disperse in various directions, and the ends of the water-spouts bending over finally causes them to break in the middle, although the water which is now seen foaming around their base has suffered little or no movement laterally.

705. Water-spouts.—" Yet often the wind prevents the formation of water-spouts. In their stead the wind-spout shoots up like an arrow, and the sea seems to try in vain to keep it back. The sea, lashed into fury, marks with foam the path along which the conflict rages, and roars with the noise of its water-spouts; and woe to the rash mariner who ventures therein! The height of the spouts is usually somewhat less than 200 yards, and their diameter not more than 20 feet, yet they are often taller and thicker; when the opportunity of correctly measuring them has been favourable, however, as it generally was when they passed between the islands, so that the distance of their bases could be accurately determined, I have never found them higher than 700