200 J. B. CLELAND. 



Burke and Wills also heard an explosive report on May 

 24th, 1861, near Cooper's Creek. 



Discussion. 



Mr. L. Hargrave pointed out that most of the speakers 

 had attributed the booming sounds to the cracking of rocks. 

 Now, stone is not the only substance that makes a report 

 when broken, iron does too, the breaking of a stick and 

 tearing of paper also. Therefore, he thought that when 

 the noises were heard in the deadly silence of a plain 

 where no mountains or rocks were visible, the sounds 

 were due to the cracking of the alluvial soil. 



Mr. R. H. Cambage considered these sounds arise from 

 different causes, and are probably not confined to the desert 

 country. The reason they are not noticed more in the 

 inhabited parts is partly because they become blended with 

 other sounds, and partly owing to the fact that when it is 

 known that a locality is peopled with miners and others, 

 any sounds are likely to be considered the result of human 

 agency. He was disposed to consider two of the likely 

 causes to be, meteors and earth movements along lines of 

 faulting. He instanced a case where he once heard an 

 explosive sound which was evidently due to the bursting 

 of a meteor. The occurrence dates back to August 1879, 

 at about 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, when a loud explo- 

 sive sound was heard at Milton, coming from a point in the 

 south-west, at an angle of from 20° to 30° above the horizon. 

 The noise somewhat resembled thunder, but was really more 

 like an explosion. On looking toward the spot whence the 

 sound came, nothing could be seen to suggest the cause, 

 and except for a very few small clouds, the sky was clear. 

 It was noticed that a friend standing about 30 yards away 

 turned right round and looked toward the same spot, thus 

 showing that the position from which the sound emanated 

 could be definitely located. It was ascertained next day 



