MORE RED VAPOURS. 91 



the most brilliant rainbow hues, extended over the hea- 

 vens. A great crowd of people assembled in the public 

 square. This celestial phenomenon, the earthquake, the 

 thunder which accompanied it, the red vapour seen dur- 

 ing so many days, all were regarded as the effect of the 

 eclipse. About nine in the evening there was another 

 shock, much slighter than the former, but attended with 

 a subterraneous noise. In the night between the 3d and 

 4th of November the reddish vapour was so thick that 

 Humboldt could not distinguish the situation of the moon, 

 except by a beautiful halo of 20° diameter. 



The travellers had frequent visits from persons who 

 wished to know whether their instruments indicated new 

 shocks for the next day ; and alarm was great and gene- 

 ral when, on the 5th, exactly at the same hour as on the 

 preceding day, there was a violent gust of wind, attended 

 by thunder, and a few drops of rain. No shock was 

 felt. The wind and storm returned during five or six 

 days at the same hour,, almost at the same minute. 



The reddish vapour disappeared after the 7th of No- 

 vember. The atmosphere resumed its former purity, 

 and the firmament appeared, at the zenith, of that deep 

 blue tint peculiar to climates where heat, light, and a 

 great equality of electric charge seem all to promote the 

 most perfect dissolution of water in the air. Humboldt 

 observed, on the night of the 7th, the immersion of the 

 second satellite of Jupiter. The belts of the planet were 

 more distinct than he had ever seen them before. 



The night of the 11th was cool, and extremely fine. 

 From half after two in the morning, the most extraordi- 

 nary luminous meteors were seen in the direction of the 

 east. Bonpland, who had risen to enjoy the freshness of 



