66 Mr. Bry done’s Account of 
had already walked over this electrical mine, without having 
produced any effect ; and had not the cart followed them might 
have efcaped without hurt. I examined all their fhoes, but 
could not perceive the lead mark on any of them, nor was the 
earth broken where they had trodden. But the cart was deeply 
laden, and the wheels had penetrated much farther into the 
The equilibrium between the earth and the atmofphere feems 
at this inftant to have been completely reftored ; for no farther 
appearance of thunder or lightning was obferved within our 
hemifphere ; the clouds difpelled, and the air refumed the 
moll perfect tranquillity : but how this vaft quantity of eledtric 
matter could be difcharged from the one element into the other 
without exhibiting any appearance of fire, I fhall not pretend 
to examine. The fa£t, however, appears certain ; and when 
I was mentioning it as a fingular one, a gentleman told me, 
that the fhepherd of St. Cuthbert’s farm, on the oppofite bank 
of the Tweed, had been an eye-witnefs of the event, and gave 
a different account of it. I immediately went to the farm, 
found the fhepherd, and made him conduct me to the fpot 
from whence he had obferved it, and defired him to give me ail 
account of what had happened. He was looking, he faid, at 
the two carts going up the bank, when he was ftunned by 
a loud report, and at the fame inftant faw the firft of the 
carts fill to the ground, and obferved that the man and horfes- 
lay ftill, as if dead. I afked him, if he had obferved any 
lightning ? He faid, he faw no lightning, nor appearance of 
fire whatever ; but obferved the duft to rife at the place ; that 
there had been leveral flafhes of lightning; fome time before 
from the fouth-eaft, whereas the accident happened to the 
north-weft of where he flood. The diftance, in a right line 
7 acrofs 
