TOWARDS THE UNEXPLORED 
violently, and the phenomenon was peculiar inasmuch 
as it was not heralded by any preliminary rumblings 
as is usually the case. Many of the other atmospheric 
signs usually accompanying an earthquake were, how- 
ever, present. There was a tremendous and oppressive 
-heat with death-like stillness; the skies were inky 
black, and there was a perfect deluge of rain, so 
heavy that it could easily have been described as pour- 
ing down in bucketfuls. Then the heavens opened 
with what seemed to be rivers of lightning, for the dis- 
charges resembled great main streams with thousands 
of fiery affluents, and all around us the thunder crashed 
terrifically, seeming at times as if it were inside the 
house. For three-quarters of an hour there was no 
cessation of the din. A tree just below our verandah 
was struck and split from top to bottom, but fortu- 
nately no one was injured. 
After the worst of the storm had passed, a fierce 
hurricane came, tearing up the valley which our camp 
faced. We heard its roaring long before we felt 
its force. When it came it blew off some of the thatch 
of one of our buildings. We were to a certain extent 
protected from its full force by the large trees around 
us, and at the same time we were saved from the 
danger of falling trees, because, with a view to the 
emergencies of such storms, we had taken care to fell 
all the larger trees for a considerable distance around 
ourcamp. ‘The effect of the on-coming wind heard 
at a distance had another weird parallel in the onset 
of rain storms, for we heard the rush and patter of a 
distant shower long before it was actually raining at 
our camp. 
199 K 
