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was expecting every moment to hear the ship crushing on the reefs. Wore ship during a little gust in the centre, and put her on the port tack to prevent her from foundering against the lee sea when the wind should shift. The second mate washed overboard while wearing, but managed to crawl on board again. The bulwarks all washed away. In the course of 30 minutes the shift came, N.W., terrific blowing, harder than before, throwing ship down, washed away cabin and all my effects, nearly wife and children. At 8 a.m. 9th gave up hopes of ship and crew; compressed air below blowing up hatches and scuttles in the cabin, barometer at this time 27.19, clouds resting on the water, and the scene was fearful. The lightning falling in a vertical column of vivid green; the wind constantly veered to the south’d and west’d, and at midnight the wind was S. W., blowing a fresh gale; set storm canvass to steady the ship. Oct. 10th a.m., daylight, gone down to moderate gale, but high sea. At noon the reefs in sight were seven miles to leeward. The whirl of the storm kept the ship off.”
CHART OF BAROMETER CURVES.
(See Diagram.)
The Chart shows the barometer curves as indicated by the barometers of the respective ships herein named: the “Argyleshire”, Sept. 1872, the “Francis Henty”, October 1872, and the “Idaho”, August 1872. An inspection of these Diagrams affords a comparison of the gales as to size and severity, supposing the fall of the barometer to be a measure of the latter. The Chart is constructed on a scale of 20 nautical miles to an inch, or say 11,500,000 part of the actual size (nearly).
Hence, the length of the Diagrams shows the diameter and relative diameters, and the form of the barometric curves the severity and relative severities of the gales which they are made to represent: Thus it would appear that the “Argyleshire’s” Typhoon, although larger than either of the other two, was not as severe; as at a distance of 204 miles from the circumference, the fall of
