rance. The constant roaring, however, continued for
probably five to eight minutes, when I first observed in the direction
whence it proceeded, a dark cloud of smoky appearance rising from the
earth and whirling in a terrible manner, with streams of lightning
darting in quick succession from different directions into it, and a
whitish, funnel-shaped cloud suspended over it. I was considerably
startled, remarked that a cyclone was coming, halted a moment to
ascertain the direction in which it was traveling, which appeared to
be towards me, and started in haste to the house. I soon found that it
would pass a little to the north, and would not strike us, though the
air was thick with objects nearly overhead, many of which, to an
observer at a considerable distance, closely resembled buzzards
sailing round. I immediately took my stand on the upper porch at the
east end of the house, when an almost uninterrupted view could be had
all the way to the village of Ercildoun, and here the grandest and
most terrible sight that I ever beheld, suddenly burst into view, as
the tornado passed from behind the hill north of the house, and
crossed the narrow-wooded valley near Brinton's Mill, on the road
leading to Coatesville. This spot was heavily set with white-oak
timber of good growth, but the moment it was struck by the whirlwind,
the sturdy oaks, which had been standing for probably a century, were
instantly thrown to the ground, many of them raising tons of earth
and stones upon their roots, while others, not willing to leave the
soil that had nourished them so long, were broken off at different
heights and scattered around in confusion, or carried up in the
winding funnel to be dashed from the earth far from where they grew.
It is needless to attempt a description of the power exerted by the
storm at this point, as many visitors who have been there declare that
no description they had of it previously, conveyed any clear idea of
the reality, and the mind is utterly powerless to conceive how any
force can be generated to move an element so light and soft as the
atmosphere we breathe, with such tremendous velocity as that required
to produce the effect seen here, and many other places along its line
of travel. As it passed from this valley over the hill, in the
direction of Ercildoun, at a distance of about three-eights of a mile
from where I stood, I could distinctly see the branches of trees
flying rapidly as they were thrown off