Wrapt in black glooms——
Lash’d into foam, the fierce conflicting brine
Seems o’er a thousand raging waves to burn;
Mean time, the mountain billows to the clouds
In direful tumult swell’d—surge after surge,
Burst into chaos, with tremendous roar!
· · · · ·
They boil and wheel and foam and thunder thro’
And anchor’d navies from their station drive!”
Along the British and other neighbouring coasts, the equinoctial storms are generally the most formidable. As these are to be expected at their respective seasons, all prudent navigators ought to provide against their periodical return.