METEOROLOGY. 229 



blows as long as the temperature of the air falls : that is, till 10 or 11 

 o'clock at night. It is easy to imagine what a hurricane would blow 

 if the cooling and condensing of the vapors were to be very sudden. 

 What interesting barometrical and other observations could be made 

 in the neighborhood of this lake! 



Very frequently at night or evening, throughout the rainy season, 

 we may observe, at Colonia Tovar, favored by the absence of daylight, 

 flashes of lightning unaccompanied by any audible noise of thunder. 

 This noiseless discharge of electricity shows itself also frequently in 

 the daytime ; but of all the many discharges of lightning during a 

 three and a half years' residence I have heard only once or twice 

 thunder loud enough to be compared with those of the United 

 States. 



