a 20
fiery -
EMETEURS
I
f f
*(* /
noife which could be heard,Teemed to b e a loudhifling,fimikr to that
.«aufed by- oakum, when fet on fire. After its burfting, feveral bright
iparks ;& w as it were front i t ; the 1-awermoft of which had the
ihape o f a pear, and could he traced by a blueilh light i t left behind.
W e were, then becalmed, but as;: according to the obfervatibn- o f feve.r-
ral intelligent perfcns, the appearance o f a fiery globe, has been
the. forerunner o f a ftefh gale, I expeded-One > and it was. really verified
that very night by fuch a gale, with fcpialls and. rain. Though
J am far from afferting that this, and perhaps a few more inftances
are fufficient to make this -rule general, I think however that i f
theft ph*nomeiia..an3i the. following weather, were fryfature. obftrv-
ers. more carefully noticed, experience might lead us to feme .mote
general and more certain conclufions. i 1 . . . . .
'Thirdly, the -appearance o f N orthern L ights (Aurora
Borealis)' in the higher latitudes o f our hemisphere, is at preftnt a
very common ph en om en on an d the inhabitants o f Sweden,: Norway,
Ice-Land and Ruffia, have the fight o f this meteor in the winter.,
almoft every clear night; but 1 never heard or read, o f any one
who had feen the Southern. L ights (Aurora Aujj'ralis■ ) before
us; and though, we Spent three different feafcns in or near the an;
tardic circle, we. however obftrved them the firfr time only in the
year. 1773,- onftven different nights. W e were at that time from
58° to 60° South latitude, and the thermometer at eight o-’C lock in
6 the
the morning,--flood feomlj-r- to'334 in the open air, on deck. Their
appearance was much the fame as that.of thé Northern Lights; they
were obftrved fhooting up to the zenith in columns or ilreams, o f a
jpale light, from a dark fegment as a baft near thé horizon, and
often fpread over the whole Southern hemifphérë; fometimes thefe
(g>
lights were fo tranfparent, that liars could be obferved through
them, and at other times the ftream- f^emqd tp be white and more
denfe or opaque, and would not tranfinit the light o f the liars.
Wecfaw .the meteors on:February the’ l-8th, 1.9th, 20th, 2 i ll, 26th,
and: on March .15th, and 16th;
Se c t . IV . W I N D S. -
(P O M E of the moll remarkable and general changes o f our atmo-
fphere are produced by the winds'.'Their hillory is'as yet very im-
perfed, and will frill remain fe, for. want o f a füfficiènt number of
accurate and faithful obfervations; and becaufe mankind is ftrongly
inclined to'reap the benefit o f their Own labours as Toon as poflible,
without leaving it to "pofterity, to make- the cbndlufion from pre-
mifes, for which the preftnt, a fecond, and perhaps a third age
Ihould colled the materials. As foon as we have a tolerable number
o f fads before us, we begin to build thereon a fyftem, filling up
from gueffes, furmifes and doubtful inaccurate experiments the
R reft
FIERY
M E T E O R S