1856.] Our Climatic Vtcissiiudes. 299 



this to put the theory to the test; and, being fond of a joke, he said 

 he would like to astonish the superstitious negroes, and to make them 

 believe that he could call together the clouds and bring down rain. So 

 we determined to make the experiment. 



" When our party were all gathered at the halting jlace, complaints 

 of the extreme heat went round, and all unanimously agreed that a more 

 confined and oppressive day had never been known to them. To these 

 complaints, the usual wishes for a ' little breath of air,' and ' a few drops 

 of rain,' succeeded. ' Cut through this pond,' exclaimed the Captain, 

 ' and I'll give you more than a few drops of rain ; I'll give you a plen- 

 tiful shower, and a breeze, too, that shall wake you up. Come, boys, 

 cut away ; and when you've done, you shall wash off the dust in a cold 

 bath from the skies.' They stared up and around ; not a cloud as big 

 as a man's hand could be seen, and they looked back at the Captain 

 with a good-natured grin of incredulity. ' Ho, ho ! ha, ha ! Captain, 

 make cloud out o' nufiin ; he, he ! Captain bring water all dis way from 

 de sea I ho, ho ! ha, ha ! ' Whereupon, the Captain affected to be very 

 indignant. To hasten his victory, I ordered the grass to be set on fire. 

 The flames soared forthwith above the tallest trees ; a dense volume of 

 smoke mounted upward spirally ; the grass soon disappeared ; we crossed 

 over. As the smoky column broke and the cloud began to form, the 

 Captain traced a large circle in the sand around him, and placed him- 

 self in its center, making fantastic figures, and forming cabalistic phrases 

 out of broken French. Still was the cloud unnoticed. All eyes were 

 riveted upon the Captain, who stood gazing at the earth, and shaping 

 outlines of devils there. At this juncture came a roll of distant thun- 

 der ; every glance instantly turned upward ; a cloud was spreading 

 there. The thunders increased ; the lightning flashed more vividly ; the 

 knees of the negroes shook together with alarm ; already was the rain 

 descending in torrents, though the clear sky could be seen in all direc- 

 tions under the cloud. The Captain meanwhile, maintained his mys- 

 tical attitude, and continued his wild and extraordinary evolutions. 

 Some of the whites, who were in the secret of the hoax, fell upon their 

 knees, and were imitated by the negroes, whose fears, augmenting as the 

 storm grew fiercer, with clasped hands, fastened upon the Captain a stare 

 of awe and deprecation. In short, the scene presented a complete 

 triumph of philosophy over ignorance." 



Mr. Espy cites a number of cases similar to the above, at least as far 

 as the production of rain was concerned ; hence, he says, build large 

 fires of acres in extent, and in the dryest time rain will be produced. 

 So it will, undoubtedly, if at the same time the air is warm and nearly 



