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horary variations was in no way interrupted. In the night, between the 3d and 4th of November, the red vapour was so thick that the place of the moon could be distinguished only by a beautiful halo, 20° in diameter.

Scarcely twenty-two months had elapsed since the almost total destruction of Cumana by an earthquake; and as the people look on the vapours, and the failure of the breeze during the night, as prognostics of disaster, the travellers had frequent visits from persons desirous of knowing whether their instruments indicated new shocks on the morrow. On the 5th, precisely at the same hour, the same phenomena recurred, but without any agitation; and the gust, accompanied by thunder, returned periodically for five or six days.

This earthquake, being the first that Humboldt ever felt, made a strong impression upon him; but scenes of this kind afterward became so familiar as to excite little apprehension. It appeared to have a sensible influence on the magnetical phenomena. Soon after his arrival on the coasts of Cumana, he found the dip of the needle 43 53° of the centesimal division. On the 1st November it was 43.65°. On the 7th, three days after the concussion, he was astonished to find it no more than 4275°, or 90 centesimal degrees less. A year later, on his return from the Orinoco, he still found it 42.80°, though the intensity of the magnetic forces remained the same after as before the event under consideration, being expressed by 229 oscillations in ten minutes of time. On the 7th November he observed the magnetic variation to be 4° 13' 50" E.

The reddish vapour which appeared about sunset ceased on the 7th November. The atmosphere then assumed its former purity; and the night of the 11th was cool and extremely beautiful. Towards morning a very extraordinary display of luminous meteors was observed in the east by M. Bonpland, who had

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risen to enjoy the freshness of the air in the gallery Thousands of fireballs and falling-stars succeeded each other during four hours, having a direction from north to south, and filling a space of the sky extending from the true east 30 degrees on either side. They rose above the horizon at E.N.E. and at E., described arcs of various sizes, and fell towards S., some attaining a height of 40°, and all exceeding 25° or 30°. No trace of clouds was to be seen, and a very slight easterly wind blew in the lower regions of the atmosphere. All the meteors left luminous traces from five to ten degrees in length, the phosphorescence of which lasted seven or eight seconds. The fireballs seemed to explode, but the largest disappeared without scintillation; and many of the falling-stars had a very distinct nucleus, as large as the disk of Jupiter, from which sparks were emitted. The light occasioned by them was white, an effect which must be attributed to the absence of vapours; stars of the first magnitude having, within the tropics, a much paler hue at their rising than in Europe.

As the inhabitants of Cumana leave their houses before four, to attend the first morning mass, most of them were witnesses of this phenomenon, which gradually ceased soon after, although some were still perceived a quarter of an hour before sunrise.

The day of the 12th November was exceedingly hot, and in the evening the reddish vapour reappeared in the horizon, and rose to the height of 14°. This was the last time it was seen that year.

The researches of M. Chladni having directed the attention of the scientific world to fireballs and falling-stars at the period of Humboldt's departure from home, he did not fail to inquire, during his journey from Caraccas to the Rio Negro, whether the meteors of the 12th November had been seen. He found that they had been observed by various individuals in places very remote from each other; and

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on returning to Europe was astonished to find that. they had been seen there also. The following is a brief account of the facts relating to these phenomena:-1st, The luminous meteors were seen in the E. and E.N.E. at 40° of elevation, from 2 to 6 A.M., at Cumana, in lat. 10° 27′ 52", long. 66° 30'; at Porto Cabello, in lat. 10° 6′ 52′′, long. 67° 5′; and on the frontiers of Brazil, near the equator, in long. 70° west. 2dly, The Count de Marbois observed them in French Guiana, lat. 4° 56', long. 54° 35'. 3dly, Mr. Ellicot, astronomer to the United States, being in the Gulf of Florida on the 12th November, saw an immense number of meteors, some of which appeared to fall perpendicularly; and the same phenomenon was perceived on the American continent as far as lat. 30° 42'. 4thly, In Labrador, in lat. 56° 55', and lat. 58° 4'; in Greenland, in latitudes 61° 5' and 64° 14', the natives were frightened by the vast quantity of fireballs that fell during twilight, some of them of great size. 5thly, In Germany, Mr. Zeissing, vicar of Itterstadt near Weimar, in lat. 50° 59', long. 9° 1' E., observed, between 6 and 7 in the morning of the 12th November, some falling-stars having a very white light. Soon after reddish streaks appeared in the S. and S. W.; and at dawn the south-western part of the sky was from time to time illuminated by white lightning running in serpentine lines along the horizon.

Calculating from these facts, it is manifest that the height of the meteors was at least 1419 miles; and as near Weimar they were seen in the S. and S.W., while at Cumana they were observed in the E. and N.E., we must conclude that they fell into the sea between Africa and South America, to the west of the Cape Verd Islands.

Without entering into the learned discussion which Humboldt submits to his readers, respecting the nature of these luminous bodies, we shall merely observe, that he found falling-stars more frequent in K

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the equinoctial regions than in the temperate zone, and also that they occurred oftener over continents and near certain coasts than on the ocean. He states, that on the platform of the Andes, there was observed, upwards of forty years ago, a phenomenon similar to that related above as having occurred at Cumana. From the city of Quito an immense number of meteors was seen rising over the volcano of Cayambo, insomuch that the whole mountain was thought to be on fire. They continued more than an hour, and a religious procession was about to be commenced, when the true nature of the luminous appearance was discovered.

CHAPTER XI.

Voyage from Cumana to Guayra.

Passage from Cumana to La Guayra-Phosphorescence of the SeaGroup of the Caraccas and Chimanas-Port of New-Barcelona-La Guayra-Yellow Fever -Coast and Cape Blanco-Road from La Guayra to Caraccas.

HAVING Completed the partial investigations which their short residence admitted, and having in some measure become acclimatized, the adventurous philosophers prepared to leave Cumana. Passing by sea to La Guayra, they intended to take up their abode in the town of Caraccas until the rainy season should be over; from thence to traverse the Llanos, or great plains, to the missions of the Orinoco; to go up that river as far as the Rio Negro; and to return to Cumana by Angostura, the capital of Spanish Guiana.

On the 16th November, at eight in the evening, they took their passage in one of the boats which trade between these coasts and the West India