﻿1874.] H. B. Medlicott— Eecord of the Khairpur Meteorite. 37 



" Duty called me to be on the Shujabad road, about 13 miles south of 

 Multan, on the morning of the 23rd instant. I had stopped for the night 

 in one of the rest-houses, and rose early to continue my journey soutliward. 

 While my man was getting the dog-cart ready, I walked on enjoying the 

 fresh breeze which was from the south, and after a long and wearisome hot 

 season was most grateful and reviving, i had gone on about half a mile 

 and the cart had just come up to me when, as I turned my face full to 

 the west, crossing over the road from the east, a brilliant star made its 

 appearance right opposite me, about 15 degrees above the horizon. It 

 moved on slantingly upwards and towards us, bursting almost immediately 

 as a rocket, but without scattering to any extent, all the fragments or stars 

 keeping close together, and marching on its way steadily but slowly across 

 the whole heavens, crossing the meridian about 60° from the horizon close 

 under the constellation Orion which was close to the meridian at the time, 

 and proceeding on to a point in the east nearly exactly opposite to that at 

 which it first appeared. 



" From its first appearance it increased rapidly in brightness, and long 

 before it had got half way, lit up the whole country with a greenish light, 

 not unlike the effect of the electric light. The different fragments into 

 which it broke up were distinctly visible, more than twenty of them I should 

 say, all of a brilliant palish green, moving in parallel courses, two or three 

 of the larger ones taking the lead in the centre, and each of them leaving a 

 tail of red light behind it ; these tails blending into one formed a huge 

 band of light from one end of the heaven to the other. 



" From the moment it shone out brilliantly we all stood, spell-bound, 

 in perfect silence, the more marked in the dead stillness of the morning, 

 and as it died out we stood watching the wonderful path it had trod. The 

 effect was most thrilling, when silence was first broken by the Ya Allah 

 of one of the servants. We still remained motionless, expecting nothing 

 further, when a loud report, as of a number of cannon in the distance, shook 

 the very ground under us, reverberation rolling on for a considerable time 

 and dying away at length like distant thunder. Unfortunately, I had 

 no watch about me at the time, nor indeed, had I, should I have thought 

 of looking at it, to count the minutes between the explosion and the time 

 its sound reached us, as I did not anticipate hearing it, but I should say, 

 from experience in such things, that about three and half minutes must 

 have elapsed. This, counting 1,100 feet per second, which is, I believe, 

 the rate at which sound travels, would give about 45 miles as its distance at 

 the time of its disruption. Its explosion must have taken place almost 

 immediately after entering our atmosphere, through the denser part of 

 which it must have passed. It had all the appearance of being very close : 

 indeed for a moment the feeling was that it was coming unpleasantly so , 



