322 HISTORY OF 



cause which pours down the deluge at one sea- 

 son, denies the kindly shower at another. The 

 thunder which attends the fall of these rains, is 

 much more terrible than that we are generally 

 acquainted with. With us, the flash is seen at 

 some distance, and the noise shortly after ensues ; 

 our thunder generally rolls in one quarter of the 

 sky, and one stroke pursues another. But here 

 it is otherwise ; the whole sky seems illuminated 

 with unremitted flashes of lightning, every part 

 of the air seems productive of its own thunders, 

 and every cloud produces its own shock. The 

 strokes come so thick, that the inhabitants can 

 scarce mark the intervals ; but all is one unre- 

 mitted roar of elementary confusion. It should 

 seem, however, that the lightning of those coun- 

 tries is not so fatal, or so dangerous, as with us ; 

 since, in this case, the torrid zone would be un- 

 inhabitable. 



When these terrors have ceased, with which, 

 however, the natives are familiar, meteors of ano- 

 ther kind begin to make their appearance. The 

 intense beams of the sun, darting upon stagnant 

 waters, that generally cover the surface of the 

 country, raise vapours of various kinds. Float- 

 ing bodies of fire, which assume different names, 

 rather from their accidental forms than from 

 any real difference between them, are seen with- 

 out surprise. The draco volans, or flying dra- 

 gon, as it is called; the ignis fatuus, or wander- 

 ing fire ; the fires of St Helmo, or the mariner's 

 light, are every-where frequent : and of these we 

 have numberless descriptions. " As I was riding 



