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able whirlwind.
Phiiadelphia, Aug. 25, 1755.
Dear Sir,
S you have my former papers
on whirlwinds, &c. I now fend
you an account of one which I had
lately an opportunity of fecing and
examining myiclf.
Being in Maryland, riding with
col. Taker, and f»m® other gentle-
men, to his country feat, where I and
my fon were entertained by thgga-
miable and worthy man wirh fe
hofpitality and kindnefs, we {7
the vale below ts, a fmall whiriwiod
beginning in the road, and thewing
atfelf by the duft it raifed and cone
tained. It appeared in the form of
a fugar-loaf, {pinning on its point,
moving up-the hill towards us, and
enlarged as itcameforward. When
it pafied by us, its fmaller part, near
the ground, appeared no biyger than
a common barrel, but wideaiag up-
wards, it feemed, at 40 or50 feet
high, to be zoor 30 feet in diameter.
The reft of the company ftood look-
ing after it, but my euriofity being
ftronger, I followed it, riding clofe
by its fide, and obferved_ its licking
up, in its progrefs, all the duft that
was under its fmaller part. As it is
a common opinion that a fhot, fired
through a water {pout, will break it,
I tried to break this little whirl-
wind, by ftriking my whip¥requent-
ly through it, but without any effe@.
Soon after, it guitted the road, and
took into the woods, growing every
moment larger and ftronger, raifing,
inftead of duft,the old dry leaves with
which the ground was thick!y cover-
ed,and makinga noile with them and
the branches of trees, bending fome
tall trees round inacircle,fwiftly and
very furprifingly, though the pro-
greflive motion of the whirl was nog
76 Letter on the North-Eaft forms.
fo {wift but that a man on foot might
have kept pace with it, but thecir-
cular motios was amazingly rapid.
By the Jeaves it was now filled with,
I could plainly perceive that the
current of air they were driven by,
moved apwards im a {piral line; and
when J faw the paffiag whirl continue
entire, after leaving the tranks and
bodies of large trees which it had en-
veloped, | no longer wondered that
my whip had no effect on it in its
{maller ftate. i accompanied it about
three quarters of a mile, till fome
lim s of dead trees, broken off by the
whirl, flying about, and falling near
me, made me more appreheniive of
danger; and then I ftopped, looking
at the top of it as it went on, which
was vifible, by means of the leaves
contained in it, for a very great
height above the trees. Many of
the leaves, as they got loofe from the
upper and wideft part, were feattered
in the wind; but fo great was their
height in the air, that they appeared
no bigger than flies. My fon, who
was,by this time, come up with me,
followed the whirlwind till it left the
woods, and croffed an old tobacco-
field, where, finding neither duit nor
leaves totakeup, it gradually became
invifible below, as 1t went away over
that field. The courfe of the gene-
ral wind, then blowing, was along
with us as we travelled, and the pro-
reflive motion of the whirlwind was
in a direétion nearly oppofite, tho’ it
did not keep a ftraitline, nor was
its proggeflive motion uniform, it
making little failies on either hand as
it went, proceeding fometimes fafter,
and fometimes flower, and feeming
fometimes, for a tew feconds, almojt
ftacionary, then fiarting forwards,
pretty faftagain. When we rejoined
the company,they were admiring the
valt heightof the leaves,now brought
by the common wind over our heads.
"‘Thefe leaves accompanied us as we
travelled, fome falling now and then
tound about us, and fome not reach-
ing the ground till we had gone neat
three miles from the place where we
firft faw the whirlwind begin. Upon
my afking col. Tatker if fuch whirl-
winds were common in Maryland,
he anfwered pleafantly, No, not at
all common; bat we got this on pur-
pofe to treat mr. Franklin. Anda
very high treat it was, to,
Dear fir, your affe&ionate friend,
and humble fervant, B. F.
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