Dark days of Canada. 233 



yellow tinge, and were accompaiiietJ by gusts of wind, 

 thunder, lightning, and rain ; there was a period of 

 obscurity at half past two o'clock, a second at a quarter 

 past three, anil a third at five, and during all of them the 

 darkness was so intense, that to use the expression of one 

 who was an eye witness, '' jamais nuit ne ftit plus obscnr.'' 

 A medical gentleman of Montreal |)erceiving the black 

 colour of the rain, collected, upon a strained piece of mus- 

 lin, a certain (juantity of the black i)ulverised matter with 

 which it was charged, and by rubbing it between the 

 fingers, and by ignition, this was found to be strongly 

 impregnated with sulphur. It docs not, however appear 

 that any other experiment was made with it, so that we 

 have no further data to determine its qualities, — a circum- 

 stance nmch to be regretted.* 



I shall now lay before the society some accounts of tlie 

 more recent appearances of the .'3d of July, J8I4, which 

 will be found to be very similar to those which were 

 observed on the lOlh of October, 1785. 



These accounts consist principally in foiu* narratives, 

 which 1 shall give at large. One from the pen of an Officer 

 of tiic Royal Engineers, who is sup[)osed to be Capt. Payne, 

 describes the a|)pearance» at the Bay of Seven Islands, 

 i.^ve Anticosii, on the second and third of July. The 

 next describes the appearances during the second, at 

 Cape Chat, from observations made by some Officers, w\\o 

 were on board the Sir /n/iini/i Iledtlnoll, Tran^^jiorf, which 

 lay the whole of that day at anchor in the River St. Law- 

 rence, at that point, 'i'he third contains some tHJiiitional 

 obHervuttunii respecting the appearances on the second of 



• (iufbtr iUttUr, 27rh October, I7M. 



