72 



MALDONADO. 



1832-3. 



that tliunderstorms arc very common near the mouths of 

 great rivers. Is it not possible that the mixture of large 

 bodies of fresh water with the salt may disturb the elec- 

 trical equilibrium ? Even during our occasional visits to 

 this part of South America, we heard of a ship, two 

 churches, and a house, having been struck. Both the 

 church and the house I saw shortly afterwards : the house 

 belonged to Mr. Hood, the consul-general at Monte Video. 

 Some of the effects were curious : the paper, for nearly 

 a foot on each side of the line where the bell-wires had 

 run, was blackened. The metal had been fused, and al- 

 though the room was at least fifteen feet high, the globules 

 dropping on the chairs and furniture, had drilled in them a 

 chain of minute holes. A part of the wall was shattered as 

 if by gunpowder, and the fragments had been blown off 

 with force sufficient to dent the walls on the opposite side 

 of the room. The frame of a looking-glass was blackened, 

 and the gilding must have been volatilized, for a smelling- 

 bottle, which stood on the chimney-piece, was coated with 

 bright metaUic particles, which adhered as firmly as if they 

 had been enamelled. 



