I860.] Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. 411 



" I did not see the explosion in connexion with the falling 

 of the aerolite. I was at the time, reading with my Moonshi in my 

 study and heard an extraordinary noise like that of thunder at a 

 short distance. There could be no doubt that it was near, and I imme- 

 diately supposed it was something else than thunder. The steady 

 rattling noise which appeared to be travelling in a horizontal direc- 

 tion gradually increased to one tremendous majestic clap ; after 

 which the former steady rattling noise continued perhaps for a 

 minute, till at last it died off very gradually. The noise appeared to 

 be so low that I thought a volcano or something like it would im- 

 mediately appear somewhere in our valley. A servant of mine hap- 

 pened just to return from the Post Office, and told me that above the 

 hill on which our house is situate he had seen a fire travelling to- 

 wards Dhurmsala, till at last it disappeared. [This would give it a 

 direction from South to North. H. C] The sky was cloudy, yet there 

 were no such clouds as would justify the opinion that lightning and 

 thunder had issued from them." 



I hope to collect further information, which I will duly commu- 

 nicate. 



Yours sincerely, 



Henry Cope. 



5. From Mr. E. F. Saunders, B. C. S. Officiating Deputy Com- 

 missioner, Dhurmsala, Punjab, in reply to a letter of inquiry addressed 

 to him by the Secretary, the following note accompanying an account 

 of the same meteorite. 



Dhurmsala, August 21, 1860. 



My dear Sir, — From the newspapers you will have seen that an 

 aerolite fell at this station on the 14th ultimo. 



I possessed myself of as many fragments as I possibly could for 

 scientific purposes. 



One of these I now have the honor to send, together with an ac- 

 count of its fall, in the hope that the subject may not be without 

 interest. 



Any questions you may send me regarding this phenomenon I shall 

 be delighted to answer. 



3 H 



