n waterspouts--
which, when we consider it, seems most natural--then we are driven to
the conclusion that their native region is the sky, which is by no means
so natural or so probable. Many travellers have recorded the fact that
small fish have descended in rain. In a letter written not long ago by
a gentleman in Singapore we have the following account of a shower of
fish:--

"We experienced a shock of earthquake here on the 16th February last.
Its duration was about two minutes. Although it caused no damage, its
undulatory motion was sufficiently strong to affect certain persons with
a sensation akin to sea-sickness. It was followed by rain in torrents,
on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd. On the latter day especially, we were, for
half an hour, surrounded with water to a considerable depth. We could
not see three yards before us. When the sun came out again, I saw a
number of Malays and Chinese filling their baskets with fish contained
in the pools formed by the rain.

"They told me the fish had `fallen from heaven,' and three days later,
when the pools were all dried up, there were still many dead fish lying
about. As they lay in my court-yard, which is surrounded by a wall,
they could not have been brought in by the overflowing of a torrent;
indeed, there is none of any considerable size in the neighbourhood.

"The space covered by these fish might be about fifty acres, comprising
the eastern part of the town. They were very lively, and seemed to be
in good health."

The writer of the above suggests, with some degree of hesitation, that
these fish were sucked up by waterspouts. We think that there need be
no hesitation in the matter!

The appearance usually presented by a waterspout is that of a column of
aqueous vapour reaching from the sea to the clouds, sometimes straight,
more frequently a little bent, and thicker above and below than in the
centre of the column.

Mr Ellis, the missionary, in his "Polynesian Researches," mentions
having, with a companion, met and narrowly escaped being overwhelmed by
several waterspouts, when passing on one occasion in an open boat
between two islands about thirty miles apart. On the passage they were
overtaken by a sudden and violent squall, which lasted several hours;
and, in order to avoid being sunk, they tied their masts, oars, and
sails in a bundle, and attaching a rope to them, and to the boat, cast
them into the sea. Thus they lay, as it were, at anchor in th