EXPLOSIVE OR BOOMING NOISES IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA. J 95 



around the shores of Lough Neagh by persons sailing on the 

 lake. The cause of the sounds, which are generally heard 

 in fine weather, has not been explained." 



O. H. Robinson referred to sounds like those caused by 

 pieces of ordnance heard by expeditions in the Rockies 

 (1808) and Black Hills (1810) in America. The description 

 at the latter place is as follows: — "In the most calm and 

 serene weather and at all times of the day or night, 

 successive reports are now and then heard among the 

 mountains, resembling the discharge of several pieces of 

 artillery." The sounds are also said to have been heard in 

 Brazil. 



In the next volume of Nature, Sir Edward Pry mentions 

 sounds heard in the Peninsula of Sinai, some of which are 

 explained as due to the rushing of sand down the mountain 

 side. In one place, however, where the noise is more like 

 that of artillery, no satisfactory explanation has been given. 

 4 B.W.S.,' in a later issue, refers to these sounds and quotes 

 Palmer's 'Desert of the Exodus,' wherein the writer sug- 

 gests that the reports may be due to masses of rock being 

 detached by frost and rolling over precipices. 



The following note, from a recent copy of Nature (Feb. 2, 

 1911, p. 451), refers to the occurrence of the phenomenon 

 in the Phillipine Islands: — "The Rev. M. Saderra Maso ? 

 who has for many years studied the earthquakes of the 

 Phillipine Islands, is now turning his attention to the sub- 

 terranean noises known in other countries under various 

 names, such as mist-pceffeurs, marinas, brontidi, retumbos, 

 etc. In the Phillipines many terms are used, generally 

 signifying merely rumbling or noise, while a few indicate 

 that the noises are supposed to proceed from the sea or 

 from mountains or clouds. Most of the places where they 

 are observed lie along the coasts of inter-island seas or on 

 enclosed bays; very few are situated on the open coast. 



