tues and lordly generosity is far beyond the scope of my pen. Lofty minded he values the wealth of the world as worthless gravel." "Eminently wise he enters into the comprehension of weighty matters and accomplishes them with ease and facility." "The power of his presence and conversation is so great that after one or two interviews the stony heart (of his hearer) melting as wax yeilds and is moulded accordingly." "Anterior to these times, Sir John Malcolm, through reason of superior capability and fitness, has at three different periods travelled to the regions of Tsfahan and transacted the affairs of the Company to their satisfaction, and has on several occasions been admitted into the presence of Futteh Ali Shah, King of Iran, and honored and exalted by his princely munificence." "The high born Oomras and inhabitants of Iran were beyond bounds desirous of his society. In journeying to Iran he experienced many dangers and difficulties. By bestowing "Nazrs" and Maums he is celebrated for generosity and liberality." "The Persian language falls from his lips with the perfection of eloquence, he is also acquainted with the languages of India-in addition to perfection of knowledge he possesses the gem of valor and courage. In diplomacy and political affairs, he is sagacious and discerning." "Notwithstanding his elevated rank he is entirely divest of pride and self importance; and manifests to his confidants more kindness and condescension than a father." "He is naturally partial to travelling and field sports, and esteems a good horseman." "He exerts himself to the utmost in completing any matter to which he has once turned his attention. He regards with a favorable eye the just privileges of old servants, and never rejects a beggar from the door of his wealth. "In the society of his equals Sir John Malcolm evinces such warmth and vivacity that every individual becomes desirous of his company and eloquent in his praise." "In short, this historian has never, at any time observed the brow of this celebrated chief ruffled but at all times unclouded and his countenance cheerful." "In Governor Elliot's time the seizure of the Mahratta country which was fallen into the hands of the Company was entirely brought about by his agency." Although this destitute (the writer) during his lifetime has met face to face many chiefs the like of Sir John Malcolm he has never seen." QUATRAIN. "General Malcolm is the benefactor of the age "His good name is as the sun to the world; "O God! continually increase his life and prosperity We have much pleasure, at the request of a Subscriber, in giving insertion to the following interesting letter extracted from the Cape of Good Hope Literary Gazette.-ED. IV.-MARINE BAROMETER, THEORY OF STORMS, ETC. To the Editor of the Literary Gazette. Newlands, 18th June, 1833. SIR,-I should on no account have acceded to your request of me to sanction the re-publication of a letter which appeared in the South African Chronicle nearly nine years ago, for I have not the vanity to think that any production of my pen can be worth a second perusal, had I not been influenced by the following considerations which you have so particularly brought under my notice ;first, that there are many gentlemen from India now in this colony for whose character and acquirements I have a high respect, who have expressed a desire to this effect,-secondly, that some of the arguments and facts it contains have been deemed of sufficient importance to require a more extended promulgation. Under these circumstances, I have the pleasure to send the letter referred to, revised, and very much at your service. Without, therefore, any further preface, I shall proceed to my remarks on the Marine Barometer. I am, myself, apt to set so high a value on this instrument, from its affording an infallible indication of those dreadful hurricanes, which are so prevalent in the West Indies, the China Seas, the Bay of Bengal, and other parts of the Indian ocean, especially in that part comprised within the islands of Java, Sumatra, and the Isle of France, that I think, any information tending to elucidate its advantages, cannot be too widely promulgated. Every one at all acquainted with the mechanism of a Barometer, is aware that its construction originated in a discovery, that the mean density of the atmosphere is capable of supporting a column of mercury equal to about thirty inches in length, hence it follows that every deviation of the quicksilver from this height, is the result of a correspondent change, in the actual gravity of the surrounding atmosphere, the trifling effect of the cohesive properties of the tube being duly allowed for. But although this may be sufficiently evident to a common observer, it is certain that these changes depend upon so many hidden causes, and are generally so minute that they are scarcely perceptible to the eye, and are frequently unaccompanied by any visible change of the weather. It is a well established fact, that the Barometer undergoes but little or no variation throughout the region of the tropics, unless when it happens to be under the influence of an approaching hurricane, and then it is no less certain that the quicksilver falls rapidly and considerably, a natural consequence it would seem, of the origin of these storms, which exceed in violence those of the more boisterous climates of Europe, as much as the situations in which they are generated, at other times exceed them in mildness. An infinite scope still remains for a philosophical inquiry into the theory of winds, nor have I yet met with any satisfactory explanation of the course of these awful phenomena in the heavens. If I may presume to venture an opinion on so abstruse a subject, I should say that a tropical hurricane is produced by the rays of a vertical sun acting upon some portion of the atmosphere that happens to be unusually loaded with the electric matter so abundantly generated within a few degrees of the equator, whereby a rapid rarefaction of the circumjacent atmosphere takes place, repelling in its escape the surrounding air, until the existing cause has exhausted its influence, when a reaction commences, by the condensed air rushing towards the centre of the atmospheric rarefaction until the equilibrium is restored. If this theory should prove to be well founded, it would, perhaps, sufficiently account for the great and sudden falling of the quicksilver on such extraordinary occasions; but, as Dr. Franklin very justly observes, in his Treatise on Electricity, "it is not of much importance to know the manner in which nature executes her laws; it is enough if we know the laws themselves;" so it may be said, that on all these occasions, whatever may be the immediate cause of the fall, provided we are aware of what is to follow, we are furnished with all the requisite information to guard us against the consequences. A thorough knowledge of these consequences is only to be acquired in the school of experience, and it is perhaps for that reason that I feel anxious to impart the benefits of my own, knowing that the warnings of this infallible monitor, have been but too often fatally slighted. Because, forsooth, that part of the ocean to which these remarks have reference, is frequently sailed over without the occurrence of any thing approaching to a storm, and because the Barometer may, and does frequently remain nearly stationary throughout the whole of this large portion of the voyage to and from India; is it therefore reasonable to infer that its utility ceases? on the contrary, the fact of the Barometer not being affected by any change in the atmosphere except when under the influence of an approaching storm, is the very circumstance which, in my opinion, more particularly enhances its value. In high latitudes, the eye of an experienced seaman will prove a tolerably correct substitute for a Barometer, but the tropical hurricane, unlike the storms of higher latitudes, but seldom gives any warning of its approach, and consequently the index of the Barometer affords the only indication to be relied on. The practical inference which I think myself at liberty to draw from these premises is, that whenever, or wherever within the tropics, or rather when in the more immediate neighbourhood of the Equator, a rapid and considerable fall of the quick-silver is observed to take place, it may be taken for granted that an extraordinary degree of rarefaction of the surrounding air is in progress, and that it will speedily be followed by a violent reaction. From that moment the ship may be considered to have perforated the confines of a circle, the centre of which will shortly become the focus of a tornado, which, like the centre of a whirlpool in a different element, cannot be approached but at the hazard of her destruction, a lot which may befal her in spite of any exertions, however indefatigable, of the most skilful and able-bodied crew. I am aware, however, that instances are to be adduced of ships having encountered hurricanes, without sustaining any serious injury, but I have reason to believe that, in most of these instances, if not in all, it would be found, were it possible to ascertain the fact, that the brunt of the storm was in reality not encountered at all, that these ships were throughout far nearer the verge of the circle of rarefaction than its centre, that having been warned of its approach by the Barometer, they had sufficient good sense and foresight not to neglect it. But however this may be, no prudent man in command of a ship, knowing as he must that the lives of all under his command depend upon the promptness as well as the wisdom of his decision, will allow himself to be influenced by any such precedents to brave the storm, in order to evince his courage, or through any fastidious fear of committing a blunder, but that, taking the Barometer for his safest, if not his only guide, he will, from the moment of any extraordinary fall, bring his ship to the wind, and make every possible preparation to meet it. Nor will he be diverted from his purpose by any flattering appearances in the heavens. Even if, at the moment, the sky should be cloudless, the atmosphere motionless, and no other indication of a storm throughout the whole visible horizon, than that which this invaluable instrument affords him, still he will take his measures with the same degree of promptitude and energy, as though the danger had already commenced; and when the flattering gale springs up to favor his course, he will not be tempted to pursue it through any fallacious notion of shortening the period of his voyage; for if my theory be correct, he may rest assured that, the farther he advances, the greater will be the fury of the tempest; that it is a principle of every hurricane, to narrow its sphere in proportion to its duration; and that wherever the storm commences, there will it soonest terminate; and consequently that his easiest way to escape from its fury is to remain as stationary as possible. I should not have dwelt on some of these points, had I not been aware that a notion is but too prevalent among seamen, that scudding before the gale is the shortest way to get out of it, an error which is attended with this additional evil, that those precious moments which intervene between the fall of the quicksilver and the rising of the storm, are expended (perhaps never to be retrieved,) in a proceeding which, in my opinion, is fraught with nothing but mischief. Neither should I have ventured thus boldly to advance a theory of so much importance to the interests of navigation, were I not prepared to support it by the result of many years experience, while traversing those seas to which it is more immediately applicable. The following particulars of one of those awful hurricanes which are known to prevail in certain parts of the Indian Ocean at particular seasons of the year, and which it was on this occasion my lot to encounter, will be found to embrace all the most material points on which I have ventured to ground this theory of storms, and I trust that the relation of them will not excite needless apprehensions in the breasts of those, among the fair sex in particular, whose destiny it may be to follow in the tract of my adventures, but rather that |