Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/248

, and the furious blasts, laden with hail and sleet, would come howling and whistling over the frightful chasms and craggy peaks so suddenly and with such  force that it reminded us of our sojourn in the frozen  regions of the Antarctic. Jack before the mast did not expect to fall in with such weather within the tropics.

It was interesting to watch the various movements of the clouds floating below us, with the horizon above  them. At times they would be seen, as it were, resting on the sides of the mountain, some looking a dark indigo  color, others white as the purest snow, others resembling  huge bunches of fleecy wool, while the sky above was  of the deepest blue. Some, floating by, would graze the base of the mountain and leave traces of snow. The stars looked very near and large. As the sun arose it seemed as if it were rolling over towards us.

This night was like most of the nights we experienced while on the mountain, very stormy and cold, the temperature being down to sixteen below. I will not say that I never saw it blow so hard, but I never saw it blow  any harder. For fear of some damage to the instruments we were ordered to turn out and take them down. We had no sooner got them stowed away snug in their cases than our camp was struck by a terrific hurricane  which raised the roof of the pendulum house high into  the air and scattered its fragments on the sides of the  mountain. The other house was demolished and several valuable instruments badly injured. Pieces of canvas from our tents, spread out as big as table-cloths, might  be seen floating in the air. The wind was so violent that it was impossible to keep our footing, so we laid down