Mr. Lyall on the Weather in Madagascar. 49 



quent, have generally fallen in the afternoon. The lightning 

 was vivid, and the thunder loud and near, so that a number of 

 lives were lost by the former, in the capital and in its vicinity. 

 Very often in the evening, and especially after thunder-storms, 

 as in Russia, a great part, and even nearly the whole of the 

 hemisphere was illuminated by that kind of lightning (called 

 zara by the Russians) which flashes from cloud to cloud, but 

 never approaches the earth, and by which lives, I believe, are 

 never lost. 



About the end of November, or the beginning of December, 

 at four o'clock, p. M., a very heavy shower, mixed with large 

 hail, fell, to the astonishment of Mr. Chenard, the tutor of my 

 children, who had often heard of, but had never seen such a 

 * phenomenon.' 



Ever since the rainy season has set in, with the exception of 

 a few hours before and especially after noon, the heat has been 

 very moderate. The barometer, comparatively speaking, has 

 varied little ; nor has the sympiesometer been greatly affected 

 by the changes of weather. The wind, since the 22nd of No- 

 vember, has been more variable, and frequently from the north, 

 north-west, and west. 



The quantity of rain which fell previous to the 22nd of 

 November may be estimated at two inches, and that since the 

 22nd of November at about twelve inches total, fourteen 

 inches till the commencement of the report for the month of 

 January, 1829, which accompanies these observations. 



JOURNAL 



VOL. I. OCT. 1830. E 



