A CATALOGUE OP OBSERVATIONS OP LUMINOUS METEORS. 97 



tion during the furious thunderburst that occurred on the 25th Sept. 1851. 

 He had never then met with anything of this sort; now that he has really- 

 felt the sensation created by an earthquake, and reflects on what occurred 

 three years ago, he has no doubt that the former visitation was the same as 

 the latter, but that the violence of the thunder-storm and fury of the rain 

 prevented us from perceiving the tremor, though the sound was heard every- 

 where. The following is the account given of it at the time : — 



" Some singular phaenomena occurred during the thunder-storm of Thursday 

 evening, which seem well worthy of record. Exactly at a quarter past ten, 

 when the thunder was at its loudest, the inhabitants of the northern end of 

 the Fort were alarmed with the sound as if of a large mass of something 

 rushing violently through the air — the noise resembling that of a huge 

 cannon-shot passing close by — and immediately afterwards a tremendous 

 crash was heard, as if the mass had impinged on the ground or penetrated 

 some of the buildings ; nothing, however, could yesterday morning be dis- 

 covered in the neighbourhood. The whole closely resembled what is men- 

 tioned as having occurred in Rosshire in August 1 849, when a huge mass 

 of ice was found to have fallen. The rain was at this time falling so 

 furiously, the night was so dark in the intervals between the flashes of 

 lightning, and these last so bright and frequent, that a meteor of any size 

 might have 'swept unheeded by;' yet appearances look very much as if 

 something of this sort had fallen, and we should recommend observers to be 

 on the outlook for the corpus delicti, more than likely at the same time to 

 have dropped into the sea. A tumbler half-full of water, on the sideboard 

 of a house near the Mint, fell in two about seven in the evening, imme- 

 diately after a vivid flash of lightning ! We have it now before us ; it is 

 cut almost as clean asunder as if cloven with a knife. The storm abated 

 somewhat after eleven, having apparently gone round to the west and south- 

 west; half an hour after midnight it again got round to the east, and several 

 loud peals of thunder were heard ; the lightning throughout was almost 

 continued. Shortly after one all was tranquil again." — Bombay Times, 

 Sept. 27, 1851. 



" Some further particulars of the fall of the meteor which occurred during 

 the thunder-storm of Thursday evening, noticed in our last two issues, have 

 since tben been received. The mighty rushing sound and violent concus- 

 sion perceived by hundreds of persons in the Fort, was so in exactly the 

 same manner in Colaba, a mile to the southward, — at Ambrolie, two and a 

 half miles to the north-west, — as it was in the Roadstead, a mile to the east- 

 ward. All the parties betYi^een these two extremes of nearly four miles give 

 exactly the same account of the matter. The sound was said to proceed 

 from the northward as of that of a body passing right over head towards the 

 south, and striking the ground at no great distance. As these phaenomena 

 are spoken of by all parties as nearly identical, the meteor must have passed 

 when at its nearest at a distance of ten or twelve miles at least. We want 

 more information on the subject. The smallest contributions will be accept- 

 able. Only one party who has communicated with us actually saw it rush 

 through the air, and observed it fall near the outer light-ship." — Ibid. Sept. 

 30, 1851. 



" The writer of the following most interesting notice has our grateful 

 thanks ; we trust to hear further of the matter from the Lighthouse, or those 

 on board the outer light-vessel. We have no doubt whatever that this was 

 a meteor or fire-ball of large dimensions which has fallen into the sea : — ' It 

 may be of interest to you, with reference to the notice in today's paper of 

 the storm on the night betwixt Thursday and Friday, to know that I was 



1855. H 



