[Picture: Decorative picture of lady by river] [Picture: Foot-print of a bird, and impression of rain-drops sand-stone] CHAPTER VII. REMARKABLE SHOWERS—SHOWERS OF SAND—OF MUD—SHOWERS OF SULPHUR, OR YELLOW RAIN—LUMINOUS RAIN—RED RAIN, OR SHOWERS OF BLOOD—SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH—EXPLANATION OF THE CAUSE—SHOWERS OF FISH—SHOWERS OF RATS—SHOWERS OF FROGS—INSECT SHOWER—SHOWERS OF VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES—MANNA—WHEAT—SHOWERS OF STONES—METEORIC STONES, OR AEROLITES—METEORIC IRON—SUPPOSITIONS RESPECTING THEM—FOSSIL RAIN. Water, in the state of rain, hail, snow, or dew, is generally the only substance which falls from the atmosphere upon the earth. There are, however, many well authenticated instances of various substances being showered down upon the land, to the great alarm of persons who were ignorant that the powerful action of the wind was, perhaps, the chief cause of the strange visitations to which we allude. We read of showers of sand, mud, sulphur, blood, fishes, frogs, insects, and stones; and it may be useful, as well as interesting, to quote a few examples of each description of shower. On the west coast of Africa, between Cape Bojador and Cape Verd, and thence outwards, the land, during the dry season, consists of little else but dust or sand, which, on account of its extreme fineness, is raised into the atmosphere by the slightest current of air; while a moderate wind will convey it to so considerable a distance as even to annoy ships crossing the Atlantic. On the 14th and 15th January, 1839, the Prussian ship, _Princess Louisa_, being in N. lat. 24° 20′, and W. long. 26° 42′, had her sails made quite yellow by the fine sand which covered them. This effect was produced when the distance from land was as much as from 12° to 20°. About a fortnight after the time when this ship crossed these parts of the Atlantic, a similar effect was produced on board the English ship _Roxburgh_. One of the passengers, the Rev. W. B. Clarke, says:—“The sky was overcast, and the weather thick and insufferably oppressive, though the thermometer was only 72°. At 3 P.M. Feb. 4, the wind suddenly lulled into a calm; then rose from the SW. accompanied by rain, and the air appeared to be filled with dust, which affected the eyes of the passengers and crew. The weather was clear and fine, and the powder which covered the sails was of a reddish-brown colour, resembling the ashes ejected from Vesuvius; and Mr. Clarke thinks that this dust may have proceeded from the volcanic island of Fogo, one of the Cape de Verds, about forty-five miles from the place where the ship then was.