New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-06-25
CENTRAL AFRICAN uETEoRIrES.
m The London standard.

From The London standard.
The fine representative coll ,cton Of meteoritcs
i'm tn. Department Of Minerals IN tn" British
Museum has just been enriched 10y four stones
which were seen to fall ON th" morning 81
January - last i'm native villages on tn eaS'.
orn slopes Of Mount /Omba. British central
Africa Two IF them. completely rncruStcd ana
weighing fourteen ounces ana seventeen ounces
rDsp,ctiy,lv are presented To- the trustees by
Alfred sharpe g. r.. Her Mdj"StyS CommiS-
sionor and Consul General; part. weighing TWEEN
tV-nlnc ounces. Of a third stone by J. +. Gun
uIughain rotary to the plotectorate. and part
S-i.hng nineteen ounces. of fourth stone 10y
J. McClounic Acting Collector Of Revenues II
was about o'clock ON he morning of January
- that tho" was heard At Xomha crash IKE
thunder the revcrberdti0ns lasting for few
minutes aftprWard The dctOnItion was heard
at Chirnm0 situated about ninety miles south
II Zomba and at Fort Johnston and beyond. a
distance Of about seventy miles i'm the opposite
direction. Zomba was thus roughly thu centre
If the dist rict over which the actual explosion
u the mcteOrite took place About > =. m. news
reached the Residcncy that several stones had
fallen in native villages IN the eastern slopes
If Zomba Mountain which is situated imm"dt-
afcly behind the Xomha settlement. and rises
20 a height Of six thousand feet above TIA" sea
the settlement being at 2'D feet Ten rag
mruts in ali were found. the largest weighing
five hounds twelve and one-half ounces At one
of the villages the people were found squatting
round the stone in a circle discussing In" MIRA
cle' as they called it. No one had touched or
approached the stone and it was still lying
where it fell when the officials sent 10 inyestl-
gate tine matter arrived. The story Of It's fall
was given as follows
a woman was pounding corn under tree
within about ten yards of her hut when the
stone fell The whole village heard the de-
tonation Immediately dfterward. and gathered
to where the woman was standing. 20 view the
stone They were afraid Of it, thinking II en-
chantcd and they sat at a distance round ii.
each giving a version of its probable origin
ami meaning" 1t fell on hard ground. but as
there were no rocks about. no difficulty was eX-
prricnced i'm digging il up complete At Blan-
tyre a little before o'clock on the same morn
ing 4 star Of exceptional brilliancy was seen
To pass across the sky in the direction Of Lake
Shirwa (ruughly west to casO. leaving "A tran
or tail behind it, Immediately followed 10y an
explosion like crash OF thunder Mr.. Nc
ClOunie states that the report was heard with
the precision OF a cannon boom. while Mr..
Sharpe who at the time Of the explosion. was
on the top of Zomha Mountain. heard one very
loud report: then for some two minutes long
rumb!ing or buZZing noise. gradually getting
fainter and fainter.
Explosions Of metcorites are generally fol-
lowed by sounds which have been varlously
likencd to the naprng of the wings OF wild
geese. the believing Of oxen. Turkish music. the
roaring Of a fire in chimney the noise of car
riagc on the pavement. and the tearing of calico.
Mr. Fletcher the keeper Of the department Of
minerals in his introduction To the Study Of
Ncteorites." stptcs that these sounds are prob
ably due to the Whlrling " the fragments
through the air in the neighborhood Of the OBJ