1803.] - 
“© On the 12th of March 1798, about 
fix in the evening, the weather being 
calm and ferene, a luminous globe of 
an extraordinary appearance attracted 
towards the eaft the eyes of the inhabit- 
ants of the commune of Sales and of the 
neighbouring viilages, as they were re- 
turning from their labour ; and its rapid 
approach and horrid humming noife, like 
that produced by an irregular and hollow 
body traverfing the atmofphere with ra- 
pidity, threw all the inhabitants of that 
commune into the greateft terror, efpe- 
cially when they faw it pafs over their 
heads at a very little elevation. Accord- 
ing to their report, this ball Jeft behind it 
along train of light, and emitted, with 
an almoft continual crackling noile, {mail 
blue {parks of fire fimilar to {mall ftars. 
“© Tts fall was then obferved by three 
workmen who were not more than fifty 
paces from it. One of them, named 
Montillard, a young man who was nearett 
to it, was ftruck with terror, and dropped 
his coat and a billet of wood which he 
was carrying, in order that he might 
efcape as fafl as he could. The other 
two, named Chardon and Lapous, were 
no lefs frightened, and fled to Sales, 
‘where a general alarm prevailed. Thefe 
three witnefles agree in flating that this 
body moved with aftonifhing rapidity, 
and that after its fall they ftill heard a 
kind of hiffing noife proceeding from the 
place where it buried itfelf. 
“In regard to another perfon, Crepier, 
he was at home; where he was fo much 
frightened with the hiffing of the body in 
the air, and the noife of its fail, which 
took place within lefs than twenty paces 
of his habitation, that, at firft, he fhut 
himfelf up with his family in the cellar, 
and then in his bed-chamber; where, 
fear prevailing over curio&ity, he {pent the 
night, without daring to go out to exa- 
mine what had happened. 
*¢ Next morning he was called out by 
Chardon and Lapous, who had carried 
with them M. Blondel, adjun& of thecom- 
mune of Sales, and {-veral other perfons, 
and they all repaired together to the place 
where the luminous body had been feen’ 
to bury itfelf. There, at the bottom of 
a hollow, eighteen inches in depth, that 
is to fay, of the whole thickneis of the vege- 
table earth, they found a large black, irre- 
gular ovoid mais, according to their ex- 
preffion, like acalf’s bead. It was en- 
tirely covered with a blackifh crutt; it 
was no longer warm, and had the {mell 
of gunpowder. They obferved alfo that 
it was {plit in feveral places, fo that Char- 
On Stones, &c. faid io have fallen from the Clouds. 
\ 
435 
con, by thrafting his bill into one of the 
fifures, made it fall to pieces. Iwas not 
able to learn properly whether this fifure 
was lined by a cruft fimilar to that on the 
furface; they only thought they remem- 
bered that it was partly black. ‘This 
ma{s, havirg been tranfported to Cre- 
pier’s houfe, their firft care was to exa- 
mine the nature of fo unexpected an ob- 
ject, and what it contained. The ftone, 
therefore, was weighed, and immediately 
broken; but, finding only a fone, from 
avarice, which did not fail to fucceed 
their emotions of fear, they proceeded to 
a fentiment of indifference for it, while 
the phenomenon was impiited to the moft 
whimfical and fupernatura! cauf-s, accord. 
ing to the kind of impreffion which had 
been communicated to the fpectators. 
“‘’The weight of the ftone was about 
twenty pounds. 
‘¢ The noife of the event was foon 
fpread ; and the commiffioner of the Exe- 
cutive Power to the Adminifration of 
Ville-Franche being informed of it, he 
fent to requeft the ftone, with information 
refpecting its fall. A fragment of it, 
weighing about feven pounds, was brought 
to him, a part of which, with an ac- 
count of the phenomenon, he tranfmitted 
to one of the members of the Conven- 
tional Affembly. I do not know what at. 
tention was paid to it, and what effect it 
produced, at atime when every mind was 
ablorbed in politics. 
‘© M. Place, a merchant of Ville. 
Franche, who was at Sales at the time I 
was there, aflured me that he was a wit- 
nefs, as well as many inhabitants of Ville.’ 
Franche, to the paflaye of this luminous 
globe over the town; that he heard its 
humming noife ; that its elevation could 
not exceed 500 toifes ; and, that its direc- 
tion was from eait by fouth to weit by 
north. . 
«©T muft add, that the fimplicity of 
moft of the reports ma‘e to me, their 
perfe& agreement in all the important 
points, and the great number of perfons 
who faw this phenomenon, which tock 
place at that time of day molt favourable 
for its being generally obferved, leave no 
doubt with me in regard to the veracity of 
the account which I have here given, and 
of the certainty of the fact in queftion. 
<¢ Some time ago, when converfing on 
the fubjeét of this phenomenon with 
Profeffor Pictet, he recolleéted that at the 
fame period he and a number of the in- 
habitants of Geneva and the neighbour. 
ing towns, as far as Berne, had obferved 
a luminous body, which fuddenly ap- 
peared 
