Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850 — John Shaqi
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
point of setting out from the convent of Saint Francis, when it was
perceived that the blaze on the horizon was caused by fiery meteors,
which ran along the sky in all directions, at the altitude of twelve or
thirteen degrees. In Canada, in the years 1814 and 1819, the stellar
showers were noticed, and in the autumn of 1818 on the North Sea, when,
in the language of one of the observers, the surrounding atmosphere
seemed enveloped in one expansive ocean of fire, exhibiting the
appearance of another Moscow in flames. In the former cases, a residiuum
of dust was deposited upon the surface of the waters, on the roofs of
buildings, and on other objects. The deposition of particles of matter
of a ruddy color has frequently followed the descent of aërolites--the
origin of the popular stories of the sky having rained blood. The next
exhibition upon a great scale of the falling stars occurred on the 13th
of November, 1831, and was seen off the coasts of Spain and in the Ohio
country. This was followed by another in the ensuing year at exactly the
same time. Captain Hammond, then in the Red Sea, off Mocha, in the ship
Restitution, gives the following account of it; "From one o'clock A.M.
till after daylight, there was a very unusual phenomenon in the heavens.
It appeared like meteors bursting in every direction. The sky at the
time was clear, and the stars and moon bright, with streaks of light and
thin white clouds interspersed in the sky. On landing in the morning, I
inquired of the Arabs if they had noticed the above. They said they had
been observing it most of the night. I asked them if ever the like had
appeared before? The oldest of them replied it had not." The shower was
witnessed from the Red Sea westward to the Atlantic, and from
Switzerland to the Mauritius.
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