9S6 M. De la Rive on the Formation of' Hail. 



The cloud passed over La Charente without discharging any 

 hail ; at least I have not obtained any information that it did 

 from the Prefect of this department ;^but in Haute-Vienne, and 

 exactly on the confines of La Charente, the hail fell in many 

 places in the neighbourhood of Rochechouart. From thence, 

 and pursuing a perfectly straight line from west to east, it 

 crossed the department of Haute-Vienne. At noon it arrived 

 at La Creuse, district of Bourganeuf. The communes of Faux- 

 Mazuras, Manzac, Soubrebord, MorteroUe, Vidaillac, St Hi- 

 laire, La Pouge, and St George's, were more or less invaded by 

 it. The storm continuing to follow the same direction, reached 

 the district of Aubusson, and there produced great devastations. 

 From mid-day till 2 p. m. enormous hailstones fell in the com- 

 munes of St Amand, Lupersat-Ars, St Avit-le-Pauvre, St Sul- 

 pice-les-Champs, La Rochelle, St Maixent, St Ulpimien, May- 

 nat, Beissat, Alleyrat, St Silvain-Letrueq, St Aynat, La Chaus- 

 sade, St Michel-de-Vesse, Chavanat, Malleret, and Banise. At 

 half-past one o'clock the storm reached the western limit of the 

 department of Puy-du-Dome ; a quarter of an hour later, there 

 descended upon the communes of Gelles, Proudine, St P.-le- 

 Chastel, St Oure et Roure, enormous hailstones which, in a few 

 minutes, covered the earth to the thickness of three inches. At 

 two o'clock masses of real ice fell upon the lava which extends 

 behind the Puy-du-Dome, and were broken to pieces on the an- 

 gles of the volcanic rocks. Shortly after the cloud passed the 

 Puy-du-Dome, it did much damage in the commune of Arcines, 

 and from about a quarter till half-past two, it finished its disas- 

 trous course, upon Clermont and Montferrand ; and thus in four 

 hours and a half the tempest-cloud traversed a space of about 

 ninety leagues. 



In La Charente Inferieure, some communes of the district of 

 Jonsac were visited by hail-showers between three and four 

 o'clock p. M., as some others had been at four o'clock a. m. At 

 St Yrieix (Haute-Vienne) there was also a fall of hail between 

 three and four o'clock p. m. ; and finally, half an hour later than 

 that at Clermont, in the same department, the storm descended 

 upon the communes of St Germain, L'Embron, Ardes, St Ger- 

 vais, Collonges, Mauriat, Beaulieu, Lebrenil, Jumeaux, Auzat- 

 sur-Allier, Orsonnette, La Monge, and Estel. 



