ARTIFICIAL RAINS. 505 



as those in the white mountains and at the peak of Tene- 

 riffe, &c. [Sec. VIIL] 



206. About the first of June, 1783, three columns of 

 flame rose up from Iceland, and presently united, when 

 they could be seen thirty-four miles off, when the flame 

 was not covered by thick vapor. On the llth June, the 

 fiery column, which had vanished for a little, again made 

 its appearance, and could be distinctly seen at the distance 

 of thirty or forty miles ; its thundering noise could be heard 

 at the same distance, and continued the whole summer. 

 The above column was accompanied the same day by a 

 violent rain. The places in the neighborhood of this col- 

 umn were at the same time exposed to violent cold, snow, 

 and hail of uncommon size; but as the column extended 

 further, these were succeeded by a scorching and almost 

 insufferable heat, and the sun appeared like a red globe. 

 This heat continued for several days without, interruption, 

 and returned several times in succession. The rain occa- 

 sioned infinite damage, because the water in many places 

 swept off whole pieces of soil, and carried them with it into 

 the deep gulfs. 



The sails and decks of several ships, while on their pas- 

 sage between Copenhagen and Iceland, were covered with 

 black sandy dust: even in Zeland and Copenhagen the sun, 

 from the beginning of June till the 8th of August, seemed 

 remarkably red, and throughout the whole month of July 

 the atmosphere was so filled with dust and vapor that the 

 sun was red at noon, and could not be seen in the evening 

 at eight or nine o'clock. [Tilloch's Magazine. 



In an eruption on the 25th of December, 1817, there was 

 a hail storm accompanied with red sand. [Quarterly Jour. 

 Sci. Lit. and Arts, Vol. 5, p. 201. 



207. Captain Tillard, describing an eruption of a volcano 



64 



