THE EARTH. 



Ill 



the streets of cities flow like rivers ; and the 

 whole country wears the appearance of an 

 ocean. The inhabitants often make use of 

 this opportunity to lay in a stock of fresh 

 water, for the rest of the year; as the same 

 cause which pours down the deluge at one 

 season, 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 short- 

 ly after ensues ; our thunder generally rolls 

 on one quarter of the sky, and one stroke 

 pursues another. But here it is otherwise; 

 the whole sky seems illuminated with unrc- 

 mitted ilishes of lightning; every part of the 

 air stains productive of its own thunders; 

 and every cloud produces its own shock. 

 The strokes come so thick, that the inhabi- 

 tants can scarcely mark the intervals; butall is 

 one unremitted roar of elementary confusion. 

 It should seem, however, that the lightning 

 of those countries is not so fatal, or so dan- 

 gerous, as with us ; since, in this case, the 

 torrid zone would be uninhabitable. 



When these terrors have ceased, with 

 which, however, the natives are familiar, me- 

 teors of another kind begin to make their ap- 

 pearance. The intense beams of the sun, 

 darting upon stagnant waters, that generally 

 cover the surface of the country, raise va- 

 pours of various kinds. Floating 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 

 dragon, as it is called ; the ignis fatuus, or 

 wandering fire; the fires of St. Helmo, or the 



ariner's light, are every where frequent ; 

 and of these we have numberless descriptions. 

 " As I was riding in Jamaica," says Mr. Barb- 

 ham, " one morning from my habitation, situ- 

 ated about three miles north-west from Jago 

 de la Vega, I saw a ball of tire, appearing to 

 me of the bigness of a bomb, swiftly falling 

 down with a great blaze. At first I thought 

 it fell into the town ; but when I came nearer, 

 I saw many people gathered together, a little 

 to the southward, in the savanna, to whom 

 I rode up, to inquire the cause of their meet- 

 ing: they were admiring, as I found, the 

 ground's being strangely broke up and plough- 



ed by a ball of fire ; which, as they said, fell 

 down there. I observed there were many 

 holes in the ground ; one in the middle, of 

 the bigness of a man's head, and five or six 

 smaller roundabout it, ol the bigness of one's 

 fist, and so deep as not to be fathomed by 

 such implements as were at hand. It was 

 observed also, that all the green herbage was 

 burnt up, near the holes; and there conti- 

 nued a strong smell of sulphur near the place, 

 for some time after." 



Ulloa gives an account of one of a similar 

 kind, at Quito.* " About nine at night," says 

 he, " a globe of fire appeared to rise from the 

 side of the mountain Pichinca, and so large, 

 that it spread a light over all the part of the 

 city facing that mountain. The house where 

 I lodged looking that way, I was surprised 

 with an extraordinary light, darting through 

 the crevices of the window-shutters. On 

 this appearance, and the bustle of the people 

 in the street, I hastened to the window, and 

 came time enough to see it, in the middle of 

 its career; which continued from west to 

 south, till I lost sight of it, being intercepted 

 by a mountain, that lay between me and it. 

 It was round ; and its apparent diameter 

 about a foot. I observed it to rise from the 

 sides of Pichinca ; although, to judge from its 

 course, it was behind that mountain where 

 this congeries of inflammable matter was 

 kindled. In the first half of its visible course, 

 it emitted a prodigious effulgence, then it be- 

 gan gradually to grow dim ; so that, upon its 

 disappearing behind the intervening moun- 

 tain, its light was very faint." 



Meteors of this kind are very frequently 

 seen between the tropics; but they some- 

 times, also, visit the more temperate regions 

 of Europe. We have the description of a 

 very extraordinary one, given us by Monta- 

 nari, that serves to show to what great 

 heights, in our atmosphere, these vapours are 

 found to ascend. In the year 1676, a great 

 globe of fire was seen at Bononia, in Italy, 

 about three quarters of an hour after sun-set. 

 It passed westward, with a most rapid course, 

 and at the rate of not less than a hundred 

 and sixty miles in a minute, which is much 

 swifter than the force of a cannon-ball, and, 



Ulloa, vol. i. p. 41. 



