d by an authority
calculated to secure it general respect. It came from Mr. Williams,
F.R.S., a resident in Bengal. It stated that on December 19th, 1798, at
eight o'clock in the evening, a large, luminous meteor was seen at
Benares and other parts of the country. It was attended with a loud,
rumbling noise, like an ill-discharged platoon of musketry; and about
the same time, the inhabitants of Krakhut, fourteen miles from Benares,
saw the light, heard an explosion, and immediately after the noise of
heavy bodies falling in the neighborhood. The sky had previously been
serene, and not the smallest vestige of a cloud had appeared for many
days. Next morning, the mould in the fields was found to have been
turned up in many spots; and unusual stones, of various sizes, but of
the same substance, were picked out from the moist soil, generally from
a depth of six inches. As the occurrence took place in the night, after
the people had retired to rest, the explosion and the actual fall of the
stones were not observed; but the watchman of an English gentleman, near
Krakhut, brought him a stone the next morning, which had fallen through
the top of his hut, and buried itself in the earthen floor. This event
in India was followed, in the year 1803, by a convincing demonstration
in France, which compelled the eminent men of the capital to believe,
though much against their will. On Tuesday, April 26th, about one in the
afternoon, the weather being serene, there was observed in a part of
Normandy, including Caen, Falaise, Alencon, and a large number of
villages, a fiery globe of great brilliancy moving in the atmosphere
with great rapidity. Some moments after, there was heard in L'Aigle and
in the environs, to the extent of more than thirty leagues in every
direction, a violent explosion, which lasted five or six minutes. At
first there were three or four reports, like those of a cannon, followed
by a kind of discharge which resembled the firing of musketry; after
which there was heard a rumbling like the beating of a drum. The air was
calm, and the sky serene, except a few clouds, such as are frequently
observed. The noise proceeded from a small cloud which had a rectangular
form, and appeared motionless all the time that the phenomenon lasted.
The vapor of which it was composed was projected in all directions at
the successive explosions. The cloud seemed about half a league to the
northeast of the town of L'Aigle, and must have been