and Universall Brise because it blows constantly from the Eastern Points and makes no farre excursions beyond the Tropiques commonly meeting our ships about the 30 34 and in Summer oftentimes beyond the 36 degree of N. Latitude always proportionably to the declination of the Sun On this side the line they sit most at N. East and on the other at South East or the points between the South and East Now what Universall cause can afford such immense magasins of vapors where can be the Locall origines of these perenniall VVinds which imitate the circulation of the Heavens Or happily the disciples of Copernicus will conclude that they depend on the diurnall motion of the Earth which passing from East to West in the space of 24 houres may by that violent rotation seduce with it the adjacent Air in one constant fluor or streame For wee observe that the Winds in some Seas change with the currents or tydes and if so small a force can vary the motions of the Air how much more may wee expect from the rapid circumgyration of the whole Terraqueous globe De Cartes speaking of these Levant Winds in his discourse of Meteors says Commode ratio deduci nequeat nisi Universi fabrica simul explicetur This opinion I confesse is wholly built on the Copernican Hypothesis yet if the Heavens move and the Earth stand still according to the Vulgar and more receiv'd system of the world wee may render a no lesse rationall account of the Phaenomenon from other solid grounds For supposing the heat to be farre more intense to exhale and sollicit vapors between the Tropiques when the Sun is Verticall and the rays fall at right angles to the Earth This must needs set vast multitudes of vapors a-float both from Sea and Land which may be sufficient to furnish materials for the Generall Wind but then an objection may as easily bee started why these Vapors or Winds still keep in the road of the Sun why should they not sometimes slant aside and make their deflexions towards the Poles I answer the resistence of the Atmosphere is greater being remoter from the middle of the world and the immediate jurisdiction of the Sun beams that the winds are as it were wall'd in on both sides by the grosser vapors beyond the Tropiques and so forced to attend on the solar motions where the channell is open and the Air more yielding and refin'd by the continuall heat Nay even in our Seas when no other Winds are stirring you may often perceive a small Air still accompanying the course of the Sun and it 's remarquable in dead calms that both the Fanes of ships weathercocks by land generally hang Westward This may receive some Elucidation from a very obvious experiment of an iron bullet heated and drawn over the surface of water that presently invites the the ambient Air to follow the same course as wee may discover by a feather or other versatil body suspended above the VVater that will have an immediate tendency the same way where the medium being attenuated by the heated iron becomes more pervions and rare which methinks may be of some validity to explicate why these Universall Winds have that constant complyance and uniformity with the course of the Sun They are likewise accompany'd with a perpetuall motion of the Seas from East to VVest for the Currents of Air and water are inseparable companions both in the South seas the Pacifique and Indian Ocean And as the tydes are driven from the shoars and returne in a thousand Eddys and tortuous Meanders from the land In like manner the VVinds though they chance to be frequently repuls't by the promontorys and higher Islands that like shoars impede the Atmosphericall currents yet generally between the Tropiques the motions of the Seas and VVinds make their perennial progresse the same way Some are pleas'd to think that the Sun in their Zenith do's so farre excavate and absorbe the parts of the subjacent Ocean that the waters immediately follow as in a channell from East to West But Vossiius De Motu Maris Vent on the contrary do's as eagerly contend that the Celestial beams doe by dilating the waters rather cause a greater turgency and protuberance on their superficies which therefore subside towards the Occident where the passage is more declive till it be likewise elated by the approach of the Sun From the same principles he endeavours the solution of the Universall Winds that the Air rises highest where the Solar rays fall at more direct angles and then like the Seas begin their course Westward of which he assigns no other cause then as before Quia lege naturae ab altioribus ad decliviora fit motus quod enim Aequor id ipsum patitur Aer huic incumbens So perfectly Analogous are the motions of Air to those of Water that the Winds are almost Universally govern'd by the Hydrostatique Laws However I shall no longer propose my conjecturall thoughts concerning the cause of this abstruse Phaenomenon but chuse rather to entertain the Curious with some nicer observations which have been made both by the English and Dutch that by this means though I dare not boast the invention of New Hypotheses yet I may be able to cast in my mite towards the perfecting an history of nature I was lately enquiring of a very skilfull navigator what variations he observ'd of the Trade Winds in his voyages to the West Indies Who readily complying with my desires sent me this following account The Trade Winds have their Variations as well as others though not so much For betwixt the Tropiques where wee are at the greatest certainty they differ two or three points Their most certain points are the N E. by N. and N E. by E. I have observ'd both outward and homeward bound that as wee came Northerly so wee had the more Easterly Winds in the same Latitude As for example outward bound in the Latitudes of 20 21 22 and 23 neere the Tropique of Cancer and in the Longitudes of 52. 53. and 54. beginning the said Longitude at the Meridian of London I say there wee found the Winds at E. N. E. and E. by N. and E. and sometimes E. and by S. and E. S. E. so likewise homeward bound sayling along the North side of Cuba in the same Latitudes above mention'd neere the Tropique wee found the Winds upon the same points as a foresaid though there were 35 degrees of Longitude difference but after wee have passed these Latitudes and sayling neere the line wee shall then find the Trade Winds to incline more towards the N. E. as is above declared But what I could not so particularly collect from many reviews of our Seamens Journals I find an Inquisitive Person has observ'd in two severall Voyages to the East Indies That from 34 degrees of N. Lat. towards the coast of Afric or about the Meridian of the Canaries the Winds seldome vary above two points from
Sun 71. Where to be expected on this side the Tropique 78. The Variation thereof in severall Longitudes 79. Why the Westerly Winds blow most commonly without the Tropiques 86. The Provinciall Winds 90. A discourse concerning the Terrheinos and Viracoins or the Land and Sea-Brises 92. Their History and Cause 93. c. When they come in or cease in the Straights on the Coasts of Guiny the East and West-Indies and what Accidents hasten or retard their approach from p. 99. to 110. Of the Etesian or Anniversary Winds their severall species 111. 112. c. Of the Anniversary Winds in the way to the East-Indies which they call the Monsoons 119. How many months they continue the same Course on the Coasts of Africk and India 121. The Changing or Breaking up of the Monsoons 122. A Discourse concerning the Qualities of Wind p. 131. deriv'd from their Constituent Parts or the Medium through which they passe 131. Some Tryalls for the Explication of this Phaenomenon 133. 134. c. The Great incertainty of these observations and the diversities of their Qualities in severall Climates 138. The Properties of Easterly Winds Vnwholesome in most parts of Europe and yet in America very agreeable and pleasant 141. Of the South Winds 142. Why they magnify Visible objects and cause a stammering in the speech 147. Of the Westerly Winds their exceeding violence in the Isle of Jersy and Coast of Cornwall 150. Of the North Winds their wonderfull impetuosity in Norwey and Island 161. The great Caution to be us'd and what Circumstances are to be consider'd in judging the Qualities of Winds 172. 173. The causes of Hot Winds 174. 175. The Extremity of their Heat toward the Persian Gulf and severall instances of other Scorching Winds in Afric and Arabia where they blow off from the Sands 178. 179. The causes of Cold Winds 181. 182. The Sea-Winds in the Temperate Zones hotter then those which blow over the Land 187. Instances of this Nature in Great Britain the Isle of Jersy Virginia Florida and several other places 188. 189. c. Yet in the Torrid Zone the Sea-Brises cooling and pleasant examples thereof in America 191. Some Unusuall Qualities of Wind. 194. Of the Harmetans in Guiny 195. 196. The Virulent and Destructive Qualities of certain Winds in the West-Indies 201. Some Proposals for a more Accurate Discovery of the Nature and Qualities of Winds in relation to Architecture Navigation and severall Trades and Mechanicall Arts from 209. to 222. Diverse Prognostiques of Wind. 223. Of Whirlwinds in Generall 229. Their severall species 231. Concerning the Tornados a Description of their Nature 236. 237. How many degrees they are to be expected on this side the Aequinoctiall and at what time of the year 246. Most towards the Coasts of Guiny 247. The Tempests near the Cape Bon Esperance 245. The Cause of the Tornados 249. The Presters or Fiery Whirlwinds Examples thereof 251. 254. Hurricanes Some conjectures concerning their cause 257. The Places where they happen 265. 266. Their Prognostiques and Description in diverse Historicall Relations from 269. to 292. c. THe Origines of Winds are no lesse Various then their Motions we ought not to determine positively concerning those Appearances in nature which may be rationally explicated severall ways Though we consult the Placits of the learned Ancients consider also what we owe to the improvements of latter times yet I question whether any Theory was ever yet started on this Argument which will adequately resolve the whole Phaenomenon of VVinds and we must never expect to confine their Originall to any one determinate Cause Most of the Graecian Philosophers agreed in the same Definition of Wind till the Prince of the Peripatetiques was not only ambitious to establish a New Hypothesis of his own but likewise undertook the confutation of his Master Plato the rest of his Predecessors The Philosophicall Monarch thought he could never raign securely in the minds of men unlesse like the Family of the Ottomans he destroy'd all his Bretheren first I have no intention to disparage the Authority of the Ancients but I cannot be so injurious to the many noble productions of our present Age to think that all Science is only to be sought for in the Urns of the Dead we have a more intimate converse with Nature then heretofore which displays her beautifull Bosome and every day affords new Discoveries of usefull knowledge and further conducing to the Benefit of Human life If we consider the successe that Philosophy has met with in the VVorld we shall find that those Opinions which obtain'd most in one Age had their Fatall Periods were as much exploded decry'd in the next it 's as impossible that any one Hypothesis should be calculated to the Gusto of all persons when the sentiments of men are different as their complexions I have therefore taken a larger compasse then the Generallity of writers and deriv'd the Origines of Winds from severall Causes which I rather endeavour to prove from Accounts of our Sea-Voyages and relations of Matters of Fact then to refine on them by any nice speculations of my own For this Philosophy is not to be had in Colleges or Books but must be fetch 't frō both Indies we must traverse the wide Seas be tost to as many points of the Compasse as Columbus or Drake we must climb into the Regions of the Air descend into the Caverns of the Earth to detect the innumerable Causes Qualities of VVinds They are diffus'd like the Universall mind and it requires a kind of ubiquity to understand them How small a portion is it of the vast system of the World that we inhabit and how much lesse of it that we comprehend How Extravagant are the Phaenomena of the large American tracts their Tydes VVinds and other Aeriall impressions how different and irreconcileable to Ours How many noble discoverys have been made in these Countries which the Athenian Sages could never think of in their narrow Porches Gardens They might spin fine webs out of their own bowels but for want of a closer inspection into Nature their Texture Materials are slight And we must acknowledge that even the Stagirite himself has left us no very perfect Theory of VVinds though this Province of late years has been more succesfully undertaken by the Lord Verulam Galileo De Cartes and other illustrious Moderns Aristotle constitutes two species of Exhalations the one vapid or moist the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fumid or Terrene and as the first is employ'd in Rain Hail or Snow c. So the other furnishes materials for Winds c. The Ancients understand no more by wind then a Motion of the Air Anaximander in Plutarch styles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and some others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which that of Seneca may allude Ventus est Aer Fluens But neither the Prince of the Peripatetics ever supposed
that little ice they have is soon gone It 's also observable neare the Sea side here in England as in the County of Cornwall that the Snow is generaly melted in lesse then a weeks space and the Frosts not so lasting as elsewhere Shall wee say the acrimony of the Sea vapors soon dissolves the textures of the ice and Snow or that they choak up and repell those Frigorifique Corpuscles which are as the Coagulum to cement and knit together the parts of liquids So likewise on the Coasts of Ireland the Complexion of the Air is much Hotter then in many other places of the same Latitude and were it not environ'd with the Ocean who would think Island inhabitable that lyes directly under the Polar Circle Yet this holds good only in the Temperate Zones for in the Torrid the Sea-Brise is refrigerative and abating the excesse of heat And contrariwise on the African Continent the Land-Winds which travell o're the Burning Sands allmost suffocate the miserable inhabitants which are roasted into Skeletons and sometimes loose their Hearing and Sight by the immoderate Heat Yet in part of Guiny where the Neighbouring mountains defend them from the Easterly Winds suffer the cool Sea-Brise to blow upon their Coasts how wonderfully are their Spirits reviv'd with the delightfull gale But though the Levants are so pernicious when they come reaking off from the Sandy VVilderness yet being Refrigerated in a long passage o're the Pacifique Ocean at the Caribbes and the American Continent they become the coolest of all VVinds and the greatest blessing which Providence could ever bestow on the New World to allay the otherwise insufferable heats of the Torrid Zone Only part of Peru though the Soyl be of it selfe fertile and enrich't with all the bountys of Nature yet on this side the Mountains the Land-Winds render it sterill and unfruitfull when as Brasile enjoys a more Temperate Heaven being bedew'd with the reflreshing Brise from the Adjacent Ocean From these severall instances it appears that the Land-Winds must needs be more intensely Heated between the Tropiques then in these parts of the VVorld that lye so farre distant from the course of the Sun And the Earth being a dense body retaines the Calorifique impressions when as the volutation of the waves so often changes the Superficies of the water that the same parts of the Ocean are not always expos'd to the Celestiall Beams And though it must be acknowledg'd that neare the Aequinoctiall the Surface of the Earth and consequently the Winds that blow over it are much warmer then in the Neighbourhood of the Poles yet without dispute the Ocean also is proportionably as much Hotter then our Seas And though the Sea-Winds seeme Refrigerative with them which rather betray very great Symptoms of Heat in these Countrys yet I question whether this in some measure may not be understood Comparatively to the disposition of our Sensories and that of the Ambient Air. For their Blood and Spirits being farre more agitated then ours and also accustom'd to a Climate excessively Hot they must of necessity have different Perceptions from us who live in the Colder Regions of the VVorld But beside these Vulgar or Elementary Qualities of VVinds they have almost infinite Variety in their Natures according to the severall Subjects they can operate upon and their Propertys are various as the different impressions which they make upon other Bodys For those which are Corrosive in reference to iron or stone may prove Pestilentiall to men and one and the same Quality have one denomination as it relates to Beasts a second to Birds and a third to Insects according to the different Capacities of the Recipient Some Winds are observed to raise strange disturbances and as it were Convulsions in Swine And those who keep Silk-worms are said to shut their Windows and protect them from the South-Wind which causes their sicknes and death but readily expose them to the North which conduces as much to their vigour and health So that we can never pretend to a perfect knowledge of their Qualities unless we understood their relations to all other bodies in the World But among the wonders of Winds we must not pass by the Harmatans of Guiny which for the time they blow cause Wainscoats and Planks to open and gape making wide chasms in the most solid and imporous wood I could insert many testimonies of this nature from credible persons severall who lived in those Countries and not a few of our Seamen have been witnesses of their strange effects I shall instance in one relation which was communicated to me by Captain Peachy who was long employd in the African Trade by the Royall Company The Harmetan VVinds so called by the Natives come but once a year constantly in December about Christmas and bring a very unwholsome Vapour Their arrivall is for the most part at the East and they go no farther then the E. N. E. their continuance is 4 or 5 days not blowing hard but with an easy gale the Natives are full of Aches and Pains in these times and care not for stirring out of doors The Trees that are standing during their continuance will open that you may put in your knife and sheath so will the boards of the floors when as before there was nothing seen and after they are gone they close up again to their wonted place This may proceed from their extreme Siccity when they blow off the Sands in that exceeding Hot Climate as wee see boards chop and gape that are kept over dry and more in Chambers or Cock-lofts then lower rooms and so likewise most sorts of wood by lying long in the Sun which exhausts their moysture The known remedy in such cases is to soak them thoroughly in water by which means they oftentimes swell again into their former dimensions so possibly may the trees and planks in Guiny when the Harmetans are gone and some Moyster VVind succeeds which brings with it a more Humid and relenting Air. VVee have observ'd effects of this nature in some of our very Drying March-VVinds and therefore the workers of Musicall Instruments commonly chuse to dry their materials at that time of the yeare which as they think renders them more resounding harmonious I have not as yet had sufficient opportunity to satisfy my selfe in one Curious enquiry which belongs to the History of VVinds only thus much I have heard that when a certain VVind blows at Florence the weavers of the finest silks leave off their work finding by experience that it quite spoyles the Oriency Brightness of their Colours so that they can by no diligence or invention seclude it out of their work-houses to hinder the ill effects thereof It is a cold Wind perhaps blowing off from the Snowy Hills where it gathers those corroding Salts which alter the texture of the superficiall parts and by causing new modifications of light change the colours of silks As the richest and most florid
dyes of Scarlet are not only soon faded in a showre of rain but it has been observ'd that they suffer prejudice and loose somewhat of their lustre if they be worne much in misty weather and so possibly certain species of Air or Winds may be able to make the like kind of impressions on those Florentine silks VVee find by experience that some VVinds produce very odd effects in many sorts of Animals and Plants and others convey into the Air spirits so subtil and penetrating which dissolve the hardest of Metals That inquisitive Jesuit in his Naturall History of the West Indies gives us an account of the iron grates which in those parts were so much rusted and consum'd with the Winds that by only pressing them between your fingers they dissolv'd into Powder VVhich has likewise been observ'd of the Air about London whether from those Corrosive salts or the great quantity of Sulphur contain'd in the Sea-coale that it does not only spoyl Tapistrys and beds tarnish the most polisht silver plate fowl linnen and paper and sully all sorts of Household-stuffe with it's Fuliginous steams but has a very sensible operation on the Iron or Brasse in their Chimnies and Windows which it corrupts and causes to rust much sooner then in the Country I shall not undertake to Philosophise concerning the cause of the former Phaenomenon unlesse wee were better acquainted with the situations of those places in the West Indies Only wee are sufficiently inform'd that in some of the American Kingdomes the Earth exhales very noxious vapours that occasion a strange contagion in the Air though impartiall Nature has recompenc'd this inconvenience with many blessings which the Old World did never enjoy In the plains of Peru they have a VVind which kills men if wee may give credit to the Spanish writers without the least sense of pain and afterwards by it's extreme Subtlety and cold preserves them from Putrefaction Since the first discovery of Almagro great numbers of persons have been found dead in those Desarts some lost their feet and hands that were rotted by these Virulent Blasts which happend to the Generall Costilla and many others of the Christians who travelled into those parts Insomuch that the Spanyards who formerly us'd to passe over the Plains between Peru and Chile rather undertake a laborious voyage by the Sea-side then hazard the disasters which they might otherwise expect from these VVinds. But I insist not upon instances for which wee have no further evidence of truth then the credit of the relators yet we must suppose that there is quite another Face of Nature in those remote Climates therefore wee ought not to explode all things as false that are only different from such observations to which we have been accustom'd in these parts of the world The Winds neare Serra di Lyone where the Neighbouring Mountains abound with many putrid Sulphureous exhalations breath out in such venemous Blasts that they breed Pestilentiall Feavers and other diseases in the inhabitants So very considerable are their influences not only in other regards but to the benefit or prejudice of Human life For a kind Temperature of the Heavens Serene Air and wholesome VVinds which is the Atmosphericall dyet are full as necessary to the Health welfare of Mankind as good meat or Drinke Those likewise which have their Origines from such Subterraneall Caverns that exhale noxious Fumes like the Killing Damps in deep pits or Mines must needs by this means mingle a great allay and adulterate the purity of the Air when the virulent particles are carry'd and disperst by the Winds what can wee expect but a Mortall and unwholesome vapour from such places as the Denne of Charon near Naples where the deadly venom transpires insensibly through the pores of the Earth and suffocates all Animals that enter at the mouth of the Cave Empedocles by stopping up one of these Poisonous Caverns and hindring the Eruption of the Winds from thence is said to have cur'd an Epidemick sicknes which they had occasion'd in all the Citys thereabout whereupon in Plutarch he was afterward styl'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And in all other recesses under ground where the Pregnant womb of the Earth is stor'd with so many severall sorts of Minerals Salts if they ascend from thence they must needs fill the Atmosphere with as great diversity of vapours And therefore those VVinds which are generated in the Sulphureous soil of Puteoli smell of brimstone a great distance from thence those which come from infected places propagate the contagion and bring death along with the infectious Air. Thus wee see VVinds are not all vested with the same Qualities nor alike friendly or injurious to Human life but they sometimes are replete with those Arsenicall and Deleterious Corpuscles that convey into our blood the seeds of diseases and otherwhile with such agreable juices that recreate and cherish our spirits and contribute to longevity and Health But the wonderfull effects of Winds are more obvious to reason then perceptible by the justest criteriums of sense since the invisible Agents are diffus'd every where and the Air is as the common Vehicle or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all things where so many different sorts of Saline and Minerall spirits are continually Floating and driven to and fro in the Atmosphere So that I believe much of that Naturall Magic by which distant Bodys act upon each other though wee usually ascribe it to Occult Qualities or certain Sympathies and Antipathies in matter to proceed from no other cause then the secret operations of Winds For they are the Carriers of the Universe and transport from one place to another odors diseases fertilising Salts the seeds of Animals and Plants and most other things of which wee can give no account how they came there as vegetables that spring on the tops of houses or those which are observ'd to grow on the walls of Castles Ancient Theaters nay sometimes whole Groves and vast Forrests have at first had no other Planters then the VVinds. But to attempt a full collection of all their Properties and Effects must be the work of Posterity which possibly may require many ages e're it be brought to Perfection And to complete the many Desiderata of this Phaenomenon in an Universall History of VVinds For we have only the Out-lines of this vast Design in Sir Francis Bacon it would be adviseable to make an exact Table or Ephemeris for many years together and so dayly compare the observations of their Prognostiques the Quarters whence they blow their Duration and Properties how farre they agree or differ from what has been already delivered in Books Many of this nature are set down by the Lord Verulam but for the most part collected out of Aristotle and Pliny though with lesse improvement then might have been expected from that illustrious person However since the Learned World has been so long impos'd on by Tradition we ought in
that some of the Vertuosi who pretend to great skill in ordering of Cidar find by experience that certain Winds set it a fermenting more then others and render it turbid and thick so that when they perceive them coming to such a Point of the compasse they critically observe the just time for botling it to prevent these inconveniences Rules have been prescrib'd to Drudgsters and Apothecarys upon this account for the preserving their Medicines and happily some remarks might be taken from Cabinet-makers joyners and other Mechanicall Artists in the drying and seasoning their Materials that might conduce a fuller History of VVinds. Lastly it would be no lesse beneficiall to the Advancement of Naturall knowledge to detect the Falsity of those Assertions which have been long receiv'd in the world from the great reputation of their Authors As for example those which are set down by Aristotle in the second of his Meteors and in the book of Problems where he endeavours to explicate severall Phaenomena of the Air and Winds as in the first Section Probl. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 19. 23. and in the Twenty sixth Section Prob. 3. 9. 13. 14. 15. 16. 18. 21. 22. 25. 37. 38. 40. 42. 48. 49. 56. 58. which I mention more particularly because I find My Lord Bacon in his Chapter concerning the Qualities of VVinds follows exactly the traces of Aristotle and the generallity of Peripatetique writers have made it their Non Ultra daring to adventure no further in these enquiries then was prescrib'd to them by that Great Genius of Nature So likewise the sentiments of Theophrastus deliver'd in his Book of VVinds and the rest of the Ancient Placits ought to be more thoroughly examin'd before we receive them for infallible many things in Pliny that relate to this Argument might be considerable were they not suspected to be generally false But since the too great Veneration of Antiquity has impos'd so many Vulgar Errors on the credulous world it will be the most generous design first to free our minds from those prejudices we have taken up from Tradition and upon this foundation to superstruct a more Reall and Experimentall Philosophy I have only mention'd some few observations of that infinite Variety with which this fruitfull Argument will entertain the Curious And so from their Causes and Qualities proceed to the Prognostiques of Winds First we might enquire what the radiant sanguine pallid nubilous or other Appearances of the Sun signify to the predictions of VVinds. What the Age or Eclipse of the Moon the picked or obtuse figure the greater resplendency of the Lunar Horns or the Conjunction of it with other Planets likewise Halos about the Sun or Moon the shooting or twinkling of Starrs c. whether these may be accounted Prognostiques of VVinds In like manner if the Sun seem bigger then ordinary or dart more refulgent Beams or if it rise in a Cloud of the same Colour c. All these different Appearances of the Heavenly Bodys proceed chiefly from refraction the visual rays being distorted by the Density of the Medium and the collection of those rorid and nebulous vapors in the Air that cause these unusuall perceptions in our sense may first generate Halos and afterward descend in Tempests or VVinds. Some prognosticate from Comets and Eclipses and it would be farther worth our remarque what connexion there is between certain species of Thunder or Lightnings and Wind what predictions may be taken from the colours motion and as it were Severall storys and ranges of Clouds or the suddain appearance of any Single one above the Horizon in an extraordinary serene and peacefull sky as wee observe in Tornados Others have been no lesse superstitious from the suddain palenes of Fires from the roaring of the Sea from the resounding of Echos or a noise heard from the shoars which happens many times before the Levants blow in the Mediterranean or if there be a Murmur in the Mountains or Clouds without Thunder or if the Sea seeme to rise or swell in those places where there is no sensible VVind to irritate it Some have employ'd their curiosity in making praedictions from Birds and Water-Fowle from Ravens and Crows the playing of Porpuses and Dolphins the spinning of Spiders the leaping of Fishes above the water c. Innumerable of this nature may be had from Aristotle Paduanius Petrus de Medina Ricciolus Fournier though for the most part fallible and uncertain we might offer at the Philosophicall reasons of some Prognostiques but those which have any evident connexion between the causes effects may be solu'd from the former Discourses But as I before noted the great Inequalities in the superficies of the Earth the severall obstacles and repercussions from mountains the different Situations of the places and Medium's in which they blow the distance of those Countries from the Poles of the World Their respects to the course of the Sun whether they comply with or resist the Naturall Motion of the Air from East to West c have so many intricate nice speculations that it will be hard to lay down any perfect Theory of Winds Yet certain it is that most mutations which happen in the Air either as to heat cold or such like qualities are chiefly occasion'd by the diversities of Winds which for the time they blow are the Soveraign Lords of the Atmosphere and influence and dispose of it as they please Beside this they help to sustaine or dissolve the clouds they ventilate and purifie the Stagnant Air preserving it from Putrefaction and by this means are the greatest Benefactors to Mankind Their Number and Distribution has been very different in the time of Homer only 4 of Strabo 6 of Andronicus Chyrrestes 8 though in strictness we may suppose as many severall sorts of Winds as points in the whole Horizontall Arch. The Romans came to 12 others have very aptly multiply'd their number to 16 4 answering to the Cardinall points of the Heaven and 3 Collaterall between every Cardinall Wind But the Moderns since the encrease of Navigation have divided their Compass into 32 points known in these Parts by the Dutch or German names and by the Italian in the Mediterranean Seas A Prosecution of the former discourses concerning Whirlewinds in generall with an Historicall Account of the Tornados Hurracanes and other Tempestuous Winds THe Peripatetique Philosophy constitutes no considerable difference between Lightning and Whirlewinds only that the matter of the first is more tenuous and rare and the other made up of grosser and Heterogeneous parts VVe might explicate this Phaenomenon more advantagiously if we suppose a Spirit like that of Nitre to be discharg'd with a very violent Collision or Displosion from one Cloud which meeting with another suffers a repulse so causes that Rotation which Aristotle styles 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Third of his Meteorologics assigns this cause for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the spirit or VVind being
I forbeare to insert them among the rest of my papers because they contain no delightfull variety being only the same Tragedy acted over again and for the most of the like Nature with this which follows Hurricanes are terrible and violent Tempests which may be term'd the true images of the last Conflagration of the VVorld formerly they happen'd but once in 5 or 7 years but they are now become more frequent since the Antilles were inhabited for there was one in 51 another in 52 two in 53 and two in 56 Nay in the Island of Gardaloupe lying about the 16 degree of N. Latitude there happen'd no lesse then 3 Hurricanes in one year The manner of them is Thus. Ordinarily the Sea becomes Calme on a suddain and Smooth as glasse then presently after the Air is darkned and fill'd with Dense and Gloomy Clouds after which it 's all as it were on Fire and opens on every side with Dreadfull Lightnings that last a considerable time after which follow wonderfull Claps of Thunder that seem as if the Heaven was rent asunder The Earth Trembles in many places and the VVind blows with so great Impetuosity that it roots up the tallest and greatest Trees which grow in the VVoods Beats down almost all the Houses and tears up the Vegetables destroying every thing that grows upon the Earth and very often compels men whilst this Dreadfull Tempest lasts to catch hold of the trunks of trees to secure themselves from being carried away by the Winds some lye in the Caves of the Rocks or retire into the Huts of the Negroes and Caribbians which are built exceeding low on purpose to elude the shocks of these Tempests But that which is most dangerous of all and which causes the greatest Mischief is that in four and twenty Hours and sometimes in less space it makes the whole Circle of the Compass Leaving neither Road nor Haven secure from it's raging forces so that all the ships that are at that time on the Coast do perish most miserably At the Island of St. Christophers severall ships in the Harbour being laden with Tobacco were all cast away by an Hurricane afterwards the Tobacco poyson'd most of their Fish on their Coasts When these storms are over a man may behold the saddest Spectacles that can be imagin'd There may be seen Pieces of Mountains shaken by the Earthquakes and Forrests overturn'd Houses beaten down by the violence of the VVinds abundance of Poore Families undone by the loss of their Goods the Merchandize in their Cottages of which they can save but very little There one may see the poor Sea-men drown'd and rowling in the waves with many brave ships broken in pieces and batter'd against the Rocks 'T is a thing so wofull and deplorable that should this Disorder happen often I know not who could have the Heart or confidence to go to the Indies There came to my hands the last winter a more accurate account of an Hurricane which lately encountred one of his Majesties Frigats in the way to the West-Indies after frequent Converse with the Ingenious Captain at his return he was pleas'd understanding my design to send me a very Handsome account of the particulars in a letter The Contents were these The Contents SIR IN answer to your request concerning the Hurricane I can say little of it's effects more then what concerns our particular Damage and Terrour It happen'd upon the 18 th of August last 16 Hours after the New Moon in the 14 th Degree of North Latitude about 90 leagues from Barbados It succeeded a storme of 48 hours continuance at North-East an unusuall way of it's appearing for it commonly follows a Calme It 's presage being a shifting of the Wind about the compasse with the Appearance of a troubled skye the only advantage we have to prepare for it's reception The Fury of it began about 10 at Night and continu'd till 12 the next Day It 's observ'd that the Hurricanes of the New Moon begin at Night and those at the Full in the Day as was noted two years since when the Lord Willoughby perisht with 8 ships and near a 1000 persons During it 's 14 hours Fury with us it shifted 14 Points from the N. E. to the S. S. West keeping a method of changing one point an hour and then shifted Backward and in it's retreat still abated untill it returned to the Originall Point where it wholly ceased In the height of it we had some Hail the Stones whereof were very great which seemed to be thrown upon us for the space of the twentieth part of a Minute and then an intermission of 5 or 6 Minute before any more came The Sea in the night seem'd as a reall Fire and I believe we might have distinctly perceiv'd any object at a great Distance In the day time we seem'd rather to sayl in the Air then Water the Wind forcing the Sea so high that we could scarce make a distinction of either Elements The Terrour of it was such that I thought it the Emblem of Hell and the last dissolution of all things especially the first two hours which were attended with so much Thunder and Lightning so astonishing as if we had been wrapt up into the Clouds or the whole Air set on Fire The strength of the Wind was so great that it blew a Boat of 18 foot long fastned to 4 Ring-bolts and each Bolt through a Ring of the ship Clear off the Deck It blew away a Piece of Timber of great substance and weight called the Crosse-Piece of the Bits to which we fasten our Cabels it tore off the Sayles from the Yards though fast furled the Yards from the Masts and the upper Masts from the lower It blew a way four men of five who were upon the Fore-Yard three of which by a strang Providence were thrown in again upon the Deck by the Sea and saved The last remain of its Fury was a Weighty Grinding-Stone which it left fastned between two Timber Heads but it blew away the Trough from under it I had several Accounts from Particular Friends how terrible it was in other places but to me it seem'd beyond all expression These Hurricanes are most frequent between the Aequinoctiall and the Tropique of Cancer They more rarely happen between the Line and the Tropique of Capricorn But that which is the greatest Wonder to me is that they should be so terrible among the Caribbe-Islands that in some of them they have neither left House Tree nor Plant in the ground beginning at St. John De Porto Rico and so running Eastward but the Islands of Hispaniola Cuba and Jamaica are never troubled with them though within few leagues of the rest There are some Old Indians that have given notice of them 3 or 4 Days before their Coming by what rules I was never Curious to understand it being enough for us to study how to defend our selves and ships from them rather then