194 J. B. CLELAND. 



G. B. Scott had heard them frequently in parts of India, 

 near river-banks, sometimes as a single report, sometimes 

 two, three or more in succession ; sometimes near, some- 

 times far off. One, which was like the crack of a horse- 

 pistol or a musket, was quite close and seemed to be in the 

 air near by. The natives said that the sounds were in the 

 air and came from the gods who thus celebrated the con- 

 tinuous marriage of the Ganges (Goddess Ganges) with the 

 Brahmaputra (Son of Putra). They said the sounds had 

 been heard in their father's time and long before that. 



W. Smith had heard these sounds frequently on Lough 

 Neagh (Ireland). W. Stoney mentions that Charles Darwin 

 had heard earth sounds in North Chili and refers to similar 

 sounds said to have been noticed near Mount Sinai. 



H. H. Godwin-Austen suggested that there are two 

 different kinds of these noises, one heard near the sea and 

 due to the swell, the other consisting of booming reports 

 like cannon heard at the base of the East Himalayas. These 

 he had heard several times and the natives had then said 

 4 the earth speaks.' He appears to think that the noise is 

 due to the falling in of river-banks. 



T. D. La Touche called attention to an article on the 

 subject by Van der Broeck in Ciel et Terre, which I have 

 been unable to consult. The words 'mist pouffers' mean 

 really, he says, fog belchings or hiccups. O. Tomlinson 

 suggested globular lightning as the cause. Henry Harris 

 mentioned the hearing of six reports like those of guns, 

 supposed to be due to electricity, recorded by the s.s. Resolute 

 at a high north latitude. 



R. Lloyd Praeger stated that in August 1886, he heard 

 a rumbling sound on Lough Neagh, followed by a whirlwind, 

 connected as he thought with it. He quoted Patterson's 

 'Glossary of Words of Antrim aud Down,' as follows: — 

 "Water Guns — Sounds as of gunshots, said to be heard 



