EXTRAORDINARY DISPLAY OF METEORS. 107 



horary variations was in no way interrupted. In 

 the night, between the 3d and 4th of November, the 

 red vapour was so thick that the place of the moon 

 could be distinguished only by a beautiful halo, 20° 

 in diameter. 



Scarcely twenty-two months had elapsed since 

 the almost total destruction of Cumana by an earth- 

 quake ; and as the people look on the vapours, and 

 the failure of the breeze during the night, as prog- 

 nostics of disaster, the travellers had frequent visits 

 from persons desirous of knowing whether their in- 

 struments indicated new shocks on the morrow. On 

 the 5th, precisely at the same hour, the same phe- 

 nomena recurred, but without any agitation ; and 

 the gust, accompanied by thunder, returned period- 

 ically for five or six days. 



This earthquake, being the first that Humboldt 

 ever felt, made a strong impression uponilim ; but 

 scenes of this kind afterward became so /amiliar as 

 to excite little apprehension. It appealed to have a 

 sensible influence on the magnetical phenomena. 

 Soon after his arrival on the coasts of Cumana, he 

 found the dip of the needle 4353° of the centesimal 

 division. On the 1st November it was 43 '65°. On 

 the 7th, three days after the concussion, he was 

 astonished to find it no more than 42 '75°, or 90 cen- 

 tesimal degrees less. A year later, on his return 

 from the Orinoco, he still found it 42-80°, though the 

 intensity of the magnetic forces remained the same 

 after as before the event under consideration, being 

 expressed by 229 oscillations in ten minutes of time. 

 On the 7th November he observed the magnetic va- 

 riation to be 4° 13' 50" E. 



The reddish vapour which appeared about sunset 

 ceased on the 7th November. The atmosphere then 

 assumed its former purity ; and the night of the 11th 

 was cool and extremely beautiful. Towards morn- 

 ing a very extraordinary displav of luminous meteors 

 was observed in the east by M. Bonpland, who had 



