Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-07-03
a REMARKABLE METEOR.

4 EEMARheBLE MEIEOd.
Tn All aces these mysterious visitants have
besa objects of marked interest, often of
suoo:sji.ious regard: and their sudden ap-
pearsuee. their gorgeous hues, their swift
flight, an: then their rapid quenching in
the darkness whence they issued, combine
in maintaining the interest with which their
erralc movements are still watched. If
the flight Of solitary meteor excites ad-
miration aud awe, we can understand the
sensations of those who have been priv
ilegcd to witness those marvellous meteorlc
| showers, some Of which have become his
| torical. 1t is not one, two, ten, dozen, or
| twenty meteors which flash across the en-
tranced gaze of the fortunate and delighted
| sDectstur, but meteors in hundreds. Who
could witness unmoved sight like this,
thus described by Major Strickland? i
| tb;nl, it was on November IA, 1885, that |
witnessed cne Of the most splendid specta-
cIes in the world. My wife awoke me be-
| tween two and three o'clock to tell me that
| II lishtencd incassantly. | Immediately
arose and looked out of the window, when
| WAS perfectly dazed by brilliant dis
play of falling stars. AS this extraordi
| nary phenomenon did not disappear, we
dressed ourselves and went to the door,
where we continued to watch the beau
tirul showers of fire till after daylight.
These luminous bodies became visible IN the
zenith, taking the northeast in their descent.
Few of them appeared to be of lesser size
than star OF the first magnitude; very
many of them seemed larger than Venus
two of them seemed half as large as the
maon. should think, without eXaggera.
ton, that several hundreds of these beauti-
| full stars were visible at the same time, all
falling in the same direction, and leaving IN
| their wake long stream Of fire. This ap-
| pearapce continued without intermission
| from the time | got up till after sunrise.
| This remarkable phenomenon occurred on
| clear and frosty night, when the ground was
| covered with an inch of snow. In April,
1871, while quartered at Morar (India), l
suddenly noticed q blaze in the southeast
EN- sky and rushing out eastwards to ascer-
| tain the cause. l was too late TO see the me-
| teor, which had passed westward over the
| roof of the barracks; but distinctly saw its
| brilliant train, in the same station and In
The same laonth, but in the year 1881,
| | saw Il brilliant white meteor drop from the
zenith and explode. It's tail retained a dis
tinct existence and movement of its own for
several minutes, and seemed gradually
TO be blown away into space, changing form
| as it disappeared. On another occasion
| witnessed the double explosion of meteor
| falling from the zenith; that is it fell and
exploded, and fell again and exploded
second time. OF course the second flight
and explosion 1nust have been that OF huge
| fragment moving in the same line, for there
seemed 70 diminutior in the size of the fall.
ing body. 1u 1874, l witnessed the flight OF
small meteor which could almost have
touched I was driving eastwards along
the South road in Lucknow, when min.
ute red hot body like cricket ball passed
in from. of and apparently just above me,
from north to south; and | fancied could
have touched it with the whip. With these
Introductory remarks, let me otler my short
story We had left Alden, aud were steam
ing rapidly Bombay wards, over g placid
sea, under magnificent star-lit sky was
occnpy;ng my favOrie resort, the platform
of the pangway ladder of the good ship Dec
con. and Colonel P shared it with me.
Our conversation turned on the magnih-
cence of our surroundings. Above us was
the heavenly host, each unit shining with
the splendor peculiar to tropical climes !;
beneath us great masses Of phosphor.
escence, rolling in the depths, seemed
to emulate the stars above; and behind
us. Venus cast long, brilliant reflection on
the deep. While watching her etfulgence,
Col. P suddenly drew my attention
with: SPY Jove, H, she is coming at
US - Aud, true enough, it seemed SO for
moment But Immediately We both recog-
nizcd the fact that great meteor was ap.
proaching and no sooner was this fact ap-
narent, than it had passed ahead and disap-
reared under the following astonishing cir
cumstances At first, of dazzling white,
it riyalled Venus in brillancy, and seemed
to emerge from her; then the white rapid.
" passed into red, then dull red, almost
black, and in this condition it flew over our
heads, passing over the Deccan, and falling
into the sea with a splash, apparently
mile ahead of her, and slightly on her star,
board bow. lnvountarily We both rushed
forward to see the fall, but were too late;
but every one on deck heard it, and we all
saw and heard the outsplashed water falling
back into the sea. AS the steamer sped on,
we passed over, at an interval, | should say,
of FIVE hundred yards, three gigantic bub-
bles of hot air gurgling up from the depths,
and marking the slanting course of the me-
teor to the bottom Of the sea-Chambers'
Journal.