184 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



huts and betake themselves to their canoes, in which they float 

 about until the waters have retired. In April, 1793, it happened 

 that a violent wind heaped up the immense mass of waters of this 

 river to a distance of ten leagues, so that the whole country was 

 submersed ; and the bed of the river remained dry in such a man- 

 ner, that it might be walked over with dry feet. The vessels 

 which had foundered and sunk were all exposed again ; and there 

 was found, among others, an English vessel, which had perished in 

 1762. Many people descended into this bed, visited and spoiled 

 the vessels thus laid dry, and returned with their pockets filled 

 with silver, and other precious articles, which had been buried 

 more than thirty years in the deep. This phenomenon lasted 

 three days, at the expiration of which the wind abated, and the 

 waters returned with fury into their natural bed. — Edin. Phil. 

 Journal, xiii. 188. 



4. Fall of a Meteoric Stone at Nantgemory, Maryland, Feb. 10, 

 1825. By Dr. Carver. — I take the liberty of forwarding you a 

 notice of a meteoric stone, which fell in this town on the morning 

 of Thursday, Feb. 10, 1825. The sky was rather hazy, and the 

 wind south-west. At about noon the people of the town, and of 

 the adjacent country, were alarmed, by an explosion of some body 

 in the air, which was succeeded by a loud whizzing noise like that 

 of air rushing through a small aperture, passing rapidly in a 

 course from N.W. to S.E., nearly parallel with the river Potomac. 

 Shortly after a spot of ground on the plantation of Captain W. 

 D. Harrison, Surveyor, of this port, was found to have been re- 

 cently broken, and on examination a rough stone, of an oblong 

 shape, weighing 16lbs. 7oz. was found about eighteen inches 

 under the surface. The stone when taken from the ground, about 

 half an hour after it is supposed to have fallen, was sensibly 

 warm, and had a strong sulphureous smell. It has a hard vitreous 

 surface, and when broken appears composed of an earthy or sili- 

 ceous matrix, of a light slate colour, containing numerous globules 

 of various sizes, very hard and of a brown colour, together with 

 small portions of brownish yellow pyrites, which become dark- 

 coloured on being reduced to powder. I have procured for you a 

 fragment of the stone, weighing 4lbs. 10oz., which was all I could 

 obtain. Various notions were entertained by the people in the 

 neighbourhood on finding the stone. Some supposed it propelled 

 from a quarry eight or ten miles distant on the opposite side of 

 the river, while others thought it thrown by a mortar from a 

 packet lying at anchor in the river, and even prepared manning 

 boats to take vengeance on the captain and crew of the vessel. 



I have conversed with many persons living over an extent of 

 perhaps fifty miles square ; some heard the explosion, whilst 

 others heard only the subsequent noise in the air. All agree in 



