32 



REPORT ISri. 



November 4th. I was standing under the shade of a cluster of trees, when 

 a sudden flash of light fell around. Two or three camp fires were blazing 

 near, and at first I thought it might be a sudden flare up from one of them ; 

 but on casting my eyes up towards the heavens, I saw a large oval light, 

 stationary. It appeared to be composed of a large number of irregularly 

 shaped, differently sized stars, yet so closely packed as to form one light, yet 

 giving the whole a sort of dappled appearance. At first I was struck dumb 

 with amazement — thought it must be some mental illusion, or that my eyes 



were playing me false. But as I gazed it remained steadily fixed. , 



of Allahabad, was with me. I roused him ; he was soundly asleep, and some 

 seconds passed in waking him up. In the interval it appeared to have been 

 lengthened, nearly, though not quite, by a straight line, and as we gazed it 

 assumed the shape of a large magnet, with the upper limb rather shorter than 

 the other. It then gradually expanded, diminishing in brightness as it in- 

 creased in size, assuming a wavy, serpentine form, though keeping much to 

 a horseshoe shape, until it became so attenuated as to be no longer visible. 

 It must have continued in sight five minutes. It was seen by all the ser- 

 vants ; and one of them cried out, ' Bhagwauka seela hae,' by which he ap- 

 peared to mean that in his opinion the Almighty was amusing Himself with 

 fireworks ; literally, ' It is God's sport or amusement.' " — Nature, Jan. 12th, 

 1871. 



3. 1870, Dec. 20, &" 40"" p.m., Hawkhurst. Kent.—" This evening at 

 gh 4(jni J noticed the descent of a beautiful meteor. It appeared to start 

 almost from the zenith towards the S.S.E., and it was visible for about three 

 seconds. It had very much the appearance of a sky-rocket in its flight, but 

 without any explosion, and it displayed vivid red and orange colours. The 

 evening was very dark, but the stars were visible ; the meteor did not in- 

 crease the amount of light in the place where I was walking. According 

 to my ' star-map,' I should lay down its course as follows." [See the sketch 

 of the meteor's course.]— T. HrurHKEY, Hawkhurst, Dec. 20th, 1870. 



o 



Andvo - 

 medu 



o 

 Cefus 



j-egasus 

 04 " 



00! 



Pi sees 



4. 1871, Feb. 13, 9"^ 4™ p.m., Bristol.— "I saw a very briUiant meteor 

 last evening, February 13th, at 9^ 4™. During the time that it continued 

 visible the whole of the sky was illuminated by the light it emitted. The 

 first appearance of the meteor was not witnessed, but the direction and 

 situation of the latter portion of its path was approximately determined. It 

 passed through the S. part of Orion, just under Eigel, so [see sketch] : — 



