256 HISTOUY 01' 



circular rainbows ; lialos ; fleeting balls ot fii'e j clouds reflecting 

 back the images of things on earth, like mirrors ; and water- 

 spouts, that burst from the sea, to join with the mists that hang 

 immediately above them. These are but a part of the pheno- 

 mena that are common in those countries ; and from many of 

 which our own climate is, in a great measure, exempted. 



The meteors of the torrid zone are different from those thai 

 are found near the polar circles ; and it may readily be suppose d, 

 that in those countries where the sun exerts the greatest force 

 in raising vapours of all kinds, there should be the greatest 

 quantity of meteors. Upon the approach of the winter months, 

 as they are called under the Line, which usually begin about 

 May, the sky, from a fiery brightness, begins to be over 

 cast, and the whole horizon seems WTapt in a muddy cloud. 

 Mists and vapours still continue to rise ; and the air, which so 

 lately before was clear and elastic, now becomes humid, obscure, 

 and stifling ; the fogs become so thick, that the light of the sun 

 seems in a manner excluded ; nor would its presence be known 

 but for the intense and suffocating heat of its beams, which dart 

 through the gloom, and instead of dissipating only serve to in- 

 crease the mist. After this preparation, there follows an si- 

 most continual succession of thunder, rain, and tempests. Dur- 

 ing this dreadful season, 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- 

 iy after ensues ; our thunder generally rolls in one quarter of tha 

 sky, and one stroke pursues another. But here it is otherwise ; 

 the whole sky seems illuminated with unremitted flashes ot 

 lightning ; every part of the air seems productive of its own 

 thunders ; and every cioud produces its own shock. The strokes 

 come so thick, that the inhabitants can scarcely mark the inter- 

 vals ; but all is one unremitted roar of elementary confusion. 

 It should seem, however, that the lightning of those countries is 

 not so fatal or so dangerous as with us ; since in this case tlie 

 torrid zone would be uninhabitJible, 



