430 
the houses ; and in some parts of the 
Borough, bridges of boats were con- 
structed for the foot passengers.— 
The flashes of lightning were un- 
commonly vivid. ‘the masts of se- 
veral ships in the river were shivered 
from top to bottom; and we under- 
stand, at Islington, one or two 
horses were knocked down. The 
effects of the storm have been seri- 
ously felt in the environs of the me- 
tropolis, where many gardens have 
been completely inundated and de- 
stroyel. In St. Giles’s the cellars 
were so flooded, that the people 
were obliged to quit them to save 
their lives. A house in FJint-strect, 
near the King’s Berich, wasdamaged ; 
the chimney was thrown down, the 
roof destroyed, and the windows 
forced out, happily without any one 
sustaining the least injury. An 
apartment in the house caught fire, 
but was extinguished. 
25th. The rain commenced this 
morning between one and two, and 
poured down in torrents for a consi-: 
derable time. All the kitchens in 
that part of Oxford-strect which lie 
between Bond-street and Manches- 
ter-square, were completely inun- 
dated. In Bird-court,.in James- 
street, and other streets in the same 
neighbourhood, the distress of the 
inhabitants was inconceivably great. 
In these houses the water was at 
least four feet deep. The founda- 
tion of a house in Bird-court, and of 
another at the entrance into Davies- 
street, are so much injured, that 
carpenters have been employed to 
prop them up. In the lower part 
of Piccadilly, opposite to the house 
intended for Lord Barrymore, the 
water rose to the height of three 
feet, and was impassable for several 
hours. 
ANNUAL REGISTER; 
1806. 
' 28th. Two fire-balls were observ 
ed to fall nearly at the same time ; 
one in Etton field, near Peterbo- 
rough, the other near Woodcroft, 
happily without doing any injury.— 
A fire ball entered the chimney of a 
house in Bisbrook,near Uppingham, 
and went out at the door; there 
were several children in the room, 
but happily no lives were lost. 
29th. Krrkenny.‘* Ihave indecd 
abundant cause of thankfulness that 
Iam permitted once more to write 
to you, as my preservation, in com- 
mon with the inhabitants of this city, 
has been truly providential. Yester- 
day, about 2 o’clock, the most tre- 
mendous thunder-storm I ever heard 
began here, and continued with in- 
creasing fury till near four. The 
whole atmosphere seemed on fire, 
the lightning quite vivid and forked, 
threatening universal destruction, 
and iustantly succeeded by such 
thunder as seemed to be destined for 
the desolation of the entire city. 
Torrents of rain fel] almost during 
the whole time; and, occasionally, 
dreadful hail,in size abouta pigeon’s 
egg. One young woman was kill- 
ed; I saw her this morningthe 
hair on the front of her head tom- 
pletely burned — the gable of thé 
house where she was, split, and the 
glass in the window broken. In 
another housea man was struck quite 
senseless,and the electric fluid passed 
along the entire direction of the bell, 
and consumed it to ashes, leaving a 
mark similar to that which appears 
after the explosion of gunpowder. 
On the roof of a third, it tore away 
about three yards of the slating, and 
killed a bird on the top. I could 
not conceive any thing on this earth 
more awful or terrific. The conster- 
nation was universal.” 
AUGUST. 
