CHANGE OF SEASON. 



303 



in the air, and to the sky being overcast in every 

 part by unbroken masses of watery clouds. Pre- 

 sently lightning was observed amongst the hills ; 

 followed shortly afterwards by a storm exceeding 

 in violence anything I ever met with. During 

 eight hours, deluges of rain never ceased pouring 

 down for a moment : the steep streets of the town 

 soon became the channels of continued streams of ' 

 such magnitude, as to sweep away large stones ; 

 rendering it everywhere dangerous, and in some 

 places quite impossible to pass. The rain found 

 its way through the roofs, and drenched every 

 part of the houses ; the deep rumbling noise of 

 the torrents in the streets never ceased ; the deaf- 

 ening loudness of the thunder, which seemed to 

 cling round the rock, became distracting ; while 

 the continued flashes of the forked lightning, 

 which played in the most brilliant manner from 

 the zenith to the horizon on aU sides, were at once 

 beautiful and terrific. I never witnessed such a 

 night. 



As the next day broke, the rain ceased ; and 

 during all the morning there was a dead calm : 

 the air was so sultry that it was painful to breathe 

 it ; and though the sky remained overcast, the 



