A CATALOGUE OF OBSERVATIONS OF LUMINOUS METEORS. 119 
commenced a Poosa, and covering it with wreaths of flowers, set on foot a 
‘subscription for the purpose of erecting a small temple over it, not doubting 
from the respect paid to it by the Hindoos, to turn it to a profitable account. 
As I said before, it fell on the 18th of February, about mid-day, in a field 
near the village of Dooralla, which lies about lat. 308° 20’, long. 76° 41', 
within the territory belonging to the Pattialah Rajah, sixteen or seventeen 
miles from Umballah and eighty from Loodianah. The day was very clear 
and serene, and as usual at that season of the year, not a cloud was to be 
seen, nor was there in the temperature of the air anything to engage their 
attention; the thermometer of course may be stated at about 68° in the shade. 
The report was heard in all the circumjacent towns and villages, to the di- 
stance of twenty coss, or twenty-five miles from Dooralla. The Pattialah 
Rajah’s Vakeel being in attendance here when your letter reached me, I de- 
sired him to express my wish to the Rajah to have this stone, and as it 
appears that he had been led to consider it rather as a messenger of ill omen, 
he gave immediate orders for its conveyance to Loodianah, but with positive 
injunctions that it should not approach Pattialah, his place of residence. It 
arrived here yesterday, escorted by a party of brahmins and some Seikh horse, 
It weighs rather more than twenty-five pounds, and is covered with a pellicle 
thinner than a wafer, of a black sulphureous crust, though it emits no smell 
of sulphur that I can discover; but, having been wreathed with flowers while 
in possession of the brahmins, the odour originally emitted may by these be 
concealed. It is an ill-shapen triangle, and from one of the corners a piece 
has been broken off, either in its fall or by the instruments when taking it 
out of the ground. This fracture discloses a view of the interior, in which 
iron pyrites and nickel are distinctly visible. Since its arrival, ali the brah- 
mins in the neighbourhood have assembled at my tents to pay their adoration 
to it, and no Hindoo ventures to approach but with closed hands in apparent 
devotion, so awful a matter is it in their eyes. I shall ayail myself of the 
first escort that leaves Loodianah, to forward it to you.’—Original Commu- 
nication. 
An uncommon phenomenon appeared on the evening of the 14th, be- 
tween seven and eight o’clock, which has produced a curious sensation 
amongst the inhabitants of this settlement. A meteoric globe of fire of about 
the size of a full moon, when seen in the horizon, approached from the south- 
east, and passed over the town in a north-west direction, at a height not much 
above the tallest trees. It was followed by a rattling broken noise, somewhat 
resembling that of thunder, produced, we suppose, by the bursting of the 
ball, which took place at some distance from the town. ‘The oldest people 
in Malacea say they never witnessed such a thing before, and many, not 
knowing its real nature, consider it a portentous omen for evil. Some very 
sagely prophesy that there will be war; others that rice will be dearer ; 
and others agajn ayer that the world will soon be at an end; the Malays say 
that it is an Antoo Api, or fire spirit, sent to destroy some wicked man’s 
house ; and others that it is the serpent of the sun which has got loose and 
is going its peregrinations. We understand that a Chinaman, who had been 
sickly for some time previously, was so terrified by the appearance, that he 
- sunk down in a fit and instantly expired— Malacca Obs., May 20. 
A correspondent of the ‘ Englishman,’ at Dinagepore, gives an account of 
a fall of meteoric stones at that station. The fall occurred at noon, and was 
aecompanied by a rumbling noise, similar to that which precedes an earth- 
quake, with this difference, that the noise was from above. Some of the 
stones were of considerable size, the largest weighing about four pounds. 
They were all much alike in appearance, with a thin black crust over them, 
