to convince the most incredulous during the
extremely hot weather of July, 1911.

"From July 18 to 22 I was at Thorney Hill in the New Forest, some
seven miles behind Christchurch. Owing to the abnormal drought the
bogs and bog-streams at the foot of the hill westward were all but
dry; a dense mist, however, sometimes rose from them at night. On July
19, and the three following nights, the Will-o'-the-wisps were in
great form over the bog. They were like small balls of bluish fire,
which projected themselves with hops and jerks across the most
inaccessible parts of the bog, starting always, so far as could be
told, from where a little stagnant moisture still remained. They moved
with an erratic velocity, so to speak, appearing and reappearing at
distances of several hundred yards. There wasn't the slightest doubt
of their authenticity.

"The inhabitants of Thorney Hill, I believe, regarded these
appearances with alarm, as being, though not exactly novelties,
harbingers of much misfortune. But the drought was quite bad enough,
without having the Jack-o'-lanterns to accentuate it!"

This instance was the more remarkable as I have never succeeded in
finding anyone, even among people who are constantly on duty in the
Forest, who could testify to having seen a Will-o'-the-wisp.

Waterspouts are, I believe, more frequently seen at sea than on land,
but I have an account from my brother, Mr. F.E. Savory, of one he saw
many years ago in Wiltshire. He writes:

"When I was at Manningford Bruce in 1873 or 1874, I saw a dense black
cloud travelling towards the southeast, the lower part of which became
pointed like a funnel in shape, waving about as it descended until, I
suppose, the attraction of the earth overcame the cohesion of the
cloud's vapour, and it discharged itself. I could see it looking
lighter and lighter, from the middle outwards, until it was entirely
dispersed. I heard that the water fell on the side of the Down near
Collingbourne, about five miles off, and washed some of the soil away,
but I did not see that. The weather was stormy, but I do not remember
the time of year or any other particulars."

It would seem that a waterspout is caused by a whirlwind entering a
cloud and gathering vapour together by its rotary action into such a
heavy mass that it descends in the funnel shape described. We are all
familiar with the small whirlwinds that travel across a road in
summer, carrying the dust round and round wi