2-969-983 - /Heritage Images

Waterspouts seen off Malta, 1856. 'The weather was just what one may expect in the Mediterranean at this time of year - the sea smooth, the sky cloudless, and the atmosphere calm. At one p.m. a large spreading cloud arose in the north-east, sprinkling a few drops of rain...and then, gradually contracting, it settled low down in the horizon astern. The two centre waterspouts (of enormous size) formed first, the others followed in rapid succession, and in five minutes no fewer than ten were distinctly visible at the same time, and proceeding from the same cloud. Their distance from us was six miles. They were visible a quarter of an hour, and then passed away to the south-west, two of them bursting on the land. The island to the right...is Galita, and the point of land to the left, C. Senat, Africa. The base of the cloud was very dark, gradually shaded off towards the top. Harry Caiger'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.