128 



REPORT — 1866. 



(4.) 1865, December 9th, 8" SO"' p.m. (local time). 

 At Charleston, South Carolina, U. S., the sky being overcast and a slight 

 rain falling, but unattended by thunder or lightning, a brilliant and strong 

 light was for a moment perceived. A sentinel waEiing his rounds was 

 enabled by the light to detect a boat with two persons leaving the fort, and by 

 leveUiug his piece to oblige it to retiu-n. Half a minute or a minute after- 

 wards, an explosion, and a loud jarring sound were heard ; the fireball itself, 

 if such was the nature of the phenomenon, was hidden by clouds. 



(5.)* 1866, March 11th, 0" 20'" a.m. local time:— 

 (March 10th, W 50"' p.m., G. M. T.) 



A yellow or reddish fireball, half the apparent size of the full moon, fol- 

 lowed by a broad train of dull red colour, exploded into fragments near 

 Liibbccke (forty miles east from Miiuster) with a report loiid enough to be 

 plainly heard at Miiuster. People at Liibbecke were awakened from their 

 sleep ; the report 's^'as likened to a discharge of artillery followed by that of 

 musketry, and by a rushing sound Idee the arrival of a railway train. The 

 light was sufficient to have counted money : the meteor, as drawn by Pro- 

 fessor Heis upon a map, was visible in the surrounding districts of Liibbccke, 

 Westphaha, and Hanover. 



It commenced its course at a height of thirteen miles (British) above 

 Miete, terminating at three-and-a-half miles (British) over Oldendcrf in Liib- 

 becke. Path, thii-ty miles in four to five seconds, dii-ected from azimuth W. 

 from 8. 50°, altitude 20° ; velocity seven miles per second. At Liibbecke 

 the report succeeded its disappearance in little more than a quarter of a 

 minute. No meteorite in the neighbourhood is reported to have fallen. 



(6.) 1866, June 20th, 10" 45"> a.m., G. M. T. 



1. As observed at Penshurst. 



Dear Sii-, — In case you should not have seen the great meteor of lO*" io"* 

 A.M., June 20th 1866, I send you a rude sketch of the appearance as seen by 



The Great Meteor, as seen from Penshurst, 10'' 45'" a.m., June 20, 1860. 

 (Elevation 30°. Direction of flight from N.N.E. to S.E.— Jas. Nasmyth.) 



* A Pamphlet by Prof. Hcis, with map of meteor's coiu'^c (8yo. Hallo, 180G, 11. W. 



Schmidt). 



