EXTRACTS FROM M. PELTIER. 361 



MM. Lecerf and Destois, destroyed and carried off their 

 roofs, overturned the walls of their enclosures in the direc- 

 tion of its march, and devastated their enclosures. Contin- 

 uing then its course along the moist ravine, bordered with 

 trees, it advanced towards the hill of Chatenay, which it be- 

 gan to ascend as far as the enclosure Plant Thibault, which 

 it destroyed entirely. The trees affected by the meteor, 

 presented the same peculiarities, as those mentioned before; 

 the side struck was dried, while the opposite side preserved 

 the sap, besides the parts of the trunks broken, were redu- 

 ced to thin strips, and some had the appearance of a broom. 



M. Dutour, who had followed, with uninterrupted atten- 

 tion, the progress of the phenomenon from the top of his 

 house, says, that at this moment there was a combat between 

 a grey ash colored cloud, belonging to the first storm, which, 

 up to that time, had remained stationary, and the anterior 

 cloud of the second storm, now transformed into a spout. 

 The march of the spout was thus arrested, for some minutes 

 over Plant Thibault, but it succeeded in displacing the grey 

 cloud, and repelling it, then it was able to reach the summit 

 of Chatenay. Little greyish clouds rose and descended in 

 protuberances along the inverted cone. The spout itself 

 seemed composed of nothing but a great number of little 

 louds, quijouaient tous pour leur compte, in keeping them- 

 selves shut up in the cone. 



The whole made a noise like a large steam engine in ac- 

 tion From her locality, Madam Bulothad seen the pa- 

 rasite clouds, which she compared to funnels turning on them- 

 selves; she saw also flames fall on the trees or near them. 

 Madam Ferriere and her domestic, saw the fiery extremity 

 of the cone, which they compared to the flame, which 

 comes out of a blacksmith's forge. The spout seemed to 

 wag its tail, as her husband said, which accords with the 

 oscillations of M. Lalanne. 



Thus far, all the trees, and walls overturned directly by 



46 



