KHODA.] GEOGRAPHY ELECTRICAL PHENOMENA. 457 



was sudden and instantaneous relief, as if all the electricity had been 

 suddenly drawn from us. After the lapse of a few seconds the cause 

 became apparent, as a peal of thunder reached our ears. The light- 

 ning had struck a neighboring peak, and the electricity in the air had 

 been discharged. Almost before the sound reached us the tickling 

 and frying in our hair began again, and the same series of phenomena 

 were repeated, but in quicker succession, at the same time the sounds 

 becoming louder. The clouds now began to settle into the Great 

 Canon of the Lake Fork, and boiled about in a curious manner; here 

 and there a patch of cloud would separate from the main mass and 

 move about by itself. In passing over a thick cluster of pines down 

 near the bed of the canon, the lower parts would get caught and drag 

 through with the greatest seeming difficulty. The different parts seemed 

 to be affected by different currents in the air, and at times two little 

 masses of cloud would pass each other less than a mile apart, but would 

 soon turn aside, or rise up, or lose themselves in the great cloud that 

 pretty nearly filled the Great Canon and its branches. At times a 

 portion of the mass, moved by an upward current, would rise several 

 hundred feet above the general level, and, the force ceasing, would top- 

 ple over and slowly fall back and lose itself in the general mass. The 

 whole moved about -in a chaotic manner, producing a curious efl'ect. 

 When you consider that the top of the cloud was not less than 2,000 feet 

 'below us, you can form some idea of the strange scene that presented itself 

 to our eyes in those exciting times. The clouds soon began, to rise up 

 and approach us. As they did so, the electricity became stronger and 

 stronger, till another stroke of lightning aff'orded instantaneous relief; 

 but now the relief was only for an instant, and the tension increased 

 faster and faster till the next stroke. By this time the work was getting 

 exciting. We were electrified, and our notes were taken and recorded 

 with lightning speed, in keeping with the terrible tension of the storm- 

 cloud's electricity. The cloud reached us, coming on like a fog, looking 

 thin and light near us, but densely white at a short distance. All the 

 phenomena before mentioned increased in force atter each succeeding 

 stroke of lightning, while the intervals between strokes became less and 

 less. When we raised our hats our hair stood on end, the sharp points 

 of the hundreds of stones about us each emitted a continuous sound, 

 while the instrument outsang everything- else, and even at this high 

 elevation could be heard distinctly at the distance of fifty yards. The 

 points of the angular stones beiug of different degrees of sharpness, 

 each produced a sound peculiar to itself. The general effect of all was 

 as if a heavy breeze were blowing across the mountain. The air was 

 quite still, so that the wind could have played no part in this strange 

 natural concert, nor was the intervention of a mythological Orpheus 

 necessary to give to these trachytic stones a voice. Having completed 

 a rough sketch of as much of the surrounding country as was not ob- 

 scured by clouds, I hastily took up the mercurial barometer, hoping to 

 get a reading before we should be compelled to leave the summit ; but, 

 alas ! too late for success. The lightning-strokes were now coming thicker 

 and faster, being separated by not more than two or three minutes of 

 time, and we knew that our peak would soon be struck. As I took the ba- " 

 rometer out of its leather case, and held it vertically, a terrible humming 

 commenced from the brass ring at the end, and increased in loudness so 

 rajndly that I considered it best to crawl hastily down the side of the 

 peak to a point a few feet below the top, where, by lying low between 

 the rocks, I could return the instrument .to its case with compaj'ative 

 safety. At the same time Wilson was driven from his iustrumentj and 



