HOW WATERSPOUTS ARE FORMED IN THE JAVA SEA.
Among the small groups of islands in this sea, in the day and night thunderstorms, the combat of the clouds appears to make them more thirsty than ever. In tunnel form, when they can no longer quench their thirst from the surrounding atmosphere, they descend near the surface of the sea, and appear to lap the water directly up with their black mouths. They are not always accompanied by strong winds; frequently more than one is seen at a time, whereupon the clouds whence they proceed disperse, and the ends of the Waterspouts bending over finally causes them to break in the middle. They seldom last longer than five minutes. As they are going away, the bulbous tube, which is as palpable as that of a thermometer, becomes broader at the base; and little clouds, like steam from the pipe of a locomotive, are continually thrown off from the circumference of the spout, and gradually the water is released, and the cloud whence the spout came again closes its mouth.