The distance from Le Plateau
to the Isle of Lightning was only thirty-five miles, from the
nearest continent ten, and before the evening tornado broke from
the south-east, here the normal direction, we were lying in the
roads about two miles from the landing-place. The anchorage is
known by bringing Mbanya (Little Corisco), the smaller and
southern outlier in a line between Laval Islet and the main
island.
The frequent coruscations gave a name to Corisco, which the
natives know as Mange: it was called, says Barbot, "'Ilha do
Corisco,' from the Portuguese, because of the violent horrid
lightnings, and claps of thunder, the first discoverers there saw
and heard there at the time of their discovery." There is still
something to be done in investigating the cause of these
electrical discharges. Why should lofty Fernando Po and low-lying
Corisco suffer so much, when Zanzibar Island, similarly situated,
suffers so rarely? Again, why is Damascus generally free from
thunder-storms when Brazilian Sao Paul, whose site is of the same
altitude and otherwise so like, can hardly keep the lightning out
of doors? The immunity of Zanzibar Island can hardly be explained
by the popular theory; neither it nor Fernando Po, which suffers
greatly from thunder-storms, lies near the embouchure of a great
river, where salt and fresh water may disturb electrical
equilibrium.
Pages:
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290