Intelligence and Miscellanies. 171 



tress, and also to the Roman armies, leading them to victory. 

 The latter was nothing more than the electric fluid on their 

 spears. I recollect hearing Professor Silliman, in one of his 

 lectures, relate a case nearly similar, of the late Mr. Whitney 

 of New Haven. He was riding on horseback, near East 

 Rock in the vicinity of that town, during a night thun- 

 der-storm of great severity, and was astonished to find, all 

 at once, his horse's ears tipped with fire : he alighted, but 

 now discovered the same phenomenon at the end of his 

 whip, stirrups, and every prominent object. His own person 

 and that of an attendant, were tipped in the same manner. 

 Similar appearances, probably suggested to Virgil, the fic- 

 tif)n of the flame about Ascanius' head, the night Troy was 

 burnt. 



Our sailors call them complaisants, (from Corpo Santo:) 

 I went among them yesterday, to discover whether such ap- 

 pearances were common, and began with a group of old 

 quarter-masters : most of them had followed the sea from 

 their youth. I found each had seen them three or four times 

 before, and that they occur most frequently among the West 

 Indies. They tell me, they often appear on the lower yards 

 first, and ascend as the storm abates. " Well," I asked, 

 " what do you think they are V They shook their heads — 

 it was a hard question. At last one spoke very seriously ; 

 " I'll tell you sir, what I think they are : they are foul air 

 that the wind rolls together into a lump: it gets a little light- 

 ning in it and sticks fast on the yards." 



Yesterday we had a strong wind and a rough sea all day : 

 another squall threatened as evening drew round : the sea 

 was wild and foaming ; the waves came rolling on as if 

 eager to overwhelm us : the clouds rose like dark walls on 

 the horizon, appearing to shut us up forever to the treacher- 

 ous element, while a broad heavy mass rolled on, over head, 

 " noctem hiememque ferens." Nothing else could be seen, 

 except the North Carolina, [the flag line of battle ship,] an 

 indistinct mass, several miles distant. She too faded and be- 

 came a misty speck, but the usual light was raised at her 

 mizen-top to govern our course. But this suddenly disap- 

 peared, and nothing could be seen ; we answered its disap- 

 pearance by raising a light to our fore-mast head : all looked 

 in her direction, when suddenly another light appeared, a 

 mere point in the distance ; it spread and brightened, and 

 then shot up so as to lighten the whole stern and sails. It 



