408 PHILOSOPHY OF STORMS. 



clear and transparent, that objects could be distinguished at 

 great distances; the air was very sonorous, the roaring of 

 the waves was louder than usual; the refraction was very 

 sensible, and seemed to raise the objects above the natural 

 horizon. The wind blew from the south west, and towards 

 night the sky was overcast with black clouds ; the vapor 

 accumulated on the height which surrounded the valley, 

 and covered it with a dark veil. However, no sign of elec- 

 tricity was seen. The rain began at sunset, and soon fell in 

 torrents; the wind went round to the northward, every in- 

 stant the tempest increased. Towards midnight, the tor- 

 rent threatened to overflow the town, the hissings of the 

 wind on the prominent parts of houses, seemed mournful ; 

 the noise of the waves and the breaking of the water, seemed 

 to unite to produce extraordinary effects. About two o'clock 

 in the morning, I saw a light resembling an aurora borealis, 

 but more bright. Streaks of light shot from the centre to 

 the north of my house, which reached to the forty-second de- 

 gree. The interposition of the convent of St. Francis, pre- 

 vented me from seeing the focus of these phosphorescent 

 lights, which lasted from seven to eight minutes, and disap- 

 peared again for a quarter of an hour. This luminous 

 phenomenon was very interesting, and I watched to try to 

 discover the cause. The light appeared again, more bril- 

 liant and more extended than before, and this time, the 

 focus had changed its position, although concealed by the 

 hills on the coast. This light disappeared again to show 

 itself in different places. All continued to attract my at- 

 tention, when I saw globes of fire in different directions. 

 These new meteors crossed quickly in diameter, but they 

 did not shoot out so much light as at first, they seemed to 

 float on the waves ; some seemed at several leagues from 

 the shore, whilst the others shot streaks behind the eleva- 

 tion on the coast. 



In turning to the south west, I perceived some at the foot 



