The Storm: or, a Collection of the most Remarkable Casualties and Disasters which Happen'd in the Late Dreadful Tempest, both by Sea and LandDefoe, Daniel
History
The Storm: or, a Collection of the most Remarkable Casualties and Disasters which Happen'd in the Late Dreadful Tempest, both by Sea and Land
Defoe, Daniel
Storms -- Early works to 1800
These Letters are too well, and too judiciously Written to need any
comment of mine; 'tis plain, the watry Particles taken up from the Sprye
of the Sea into the Air, might by the impetuosity of the Winds be
carried a great way, and if it had been much farther, it would have been
no Miracle in my account; and this is the reason, why I have not related
these Things, among the extraordinary Articles of the Storm.
That the Air was full of Meteors, and fiery Vapours, and that the
extraordinary Motion occasion'd the firing more of them than usual, a
small stock of Philosophy will make very rational; and of these we have
various Accounts, more in some places than in others, and I am apt to
believe these were the Lightnings we have been told of; for I am of
Opinion, that there was really no Lightning, such as we call so in the
common Acceptation of it; for the Clouds that flew with so much Violence
through the Air, were not, as to my Observation, such as usually are
fraighted with Thunder and Lightning, the Hurries nature was then in, do
not consist with the System of Thunder, which is Air pent in between the
Clouds; and as for the Clouds that were seen here flying in the Air,
they were by the fury of the Winds so seperated, and in such small
Bodies, that there was no room for a Collection suitable, and necessary
to the Case we speak of.
These Cautions I thought necessary to set down here, for the
satisfaction of the Curious; and as they are only my Opinions, I submit
them to the judgment of the Reader.
_Of the Damages on the Water_
As this might consist of several Parts, I was inclin'd to have divided
it into Sections or Chapters, relating particularly to the publick Loss,
and the private; to the Merchant, or the Navy, to Floods by the Tides,
to the River Damage, and that of the Sea; but for brevity, I shall
confine it to the following particulars.
First, _The Damage to Trade_.
Secondly, _The Damage to the Royal Navy_.
Thirdly, _The Damage by High Tides_.
First, _of the Damage to Trade_.
I might call it a Damage to Trade, that this Season was both for some
time before and after the Tempest, so exceeding, and so continually
Stormy, that the Seas were in a manner Unnavigable and Negoce, at a kind
of a general Stop, and when the Storm was over, and the Weather began to
be tolerable; almost all the Shipping in _England_ was more or less out
of Repair, for there was very little Shipping in the Nation, but what
had receiv'd some Damage or other.
It is impossible, but a Nation so full of Shipping as this, must be
exceeding Sufferers in such a general Disaster, and who ever considers
the Violence of this Storm by its other dreadful Effects will rather
wonder, and be thankful that we receiv'd no farther Damage, than we
shall be able to give an Account of by Sea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account