A Relation of the Same Appearance, Seen at Cruwys Morchard in Devonshire. Being Part of a Letter to Sam. Cruwys, Esq; R. S. S. and by Him Communicated to the Royal Society

V. A Relation of the same Appearance, seen at Cruwys Morchard in Devonshire. Being part of a Letter to Sam. Cruwys, Esq; R. S. S. and by him Communicated to the Royal Society. YOU have doubtless been surprized again afresh by the wonderful Lights which have been seen several times of late like those described in the Philosophical Transactions; seen on March 6. 1716. Monday the 26 of October, between 7 and 8 in the Evening, I saw some small appearance of it, viz. 3 or 4 large Coruscations in form of Pyramids, of reddish Colour inclining to Yellow, which rose about 50 degrees above the Horizon, and continued but few Minutes. But the North part of the Hemisphere was very bright and red all the Evening both before and after, till Ten, if not longer. Tuesday, Novemb. 10. These Lights were seen again about 4 in the Morning, of which some say (to use their own Expressions) that the Element opened sometime at one place, then at other; from whence came great shining Lights that continued a while, and then went away by degrees, and the Holes closed up again. This continued till Day break. The Evening following coming from Tyverton about half an hour after Eight, I saw the North part of the Horizon very light and reddish (notwithstanding the Moon being about 10 Days old, was then in or past the Meridian, and shone very bright) in a short time the streaming luminous Rays began to appear very plain, some in one shape, some another; many of them like Cones or Pyramids, but most of them badly terminated; some of which mounted very high, almost to the Zenith, to which place, or near, they all or most, seemed to point. Shortly after there appeared a long Streak of about 30 Degrees, parallel to the Horizon and about 15 or 20 distant from it, and about 2 or 3 broad, but badly terminated and of a fiery red Colour: which sent out some of the same streaming Beams towards the Zenith. About 6 or 7 Minutes after there appeared (somewhat sudden) a Circular Figure like an Iris, but twice as broad, of a pale Colour. The East part was terminated by the Horizon at full East, if not something to the South, and the West End about North West; the upper part of its Arch being 50 or 60 Degrees high, great numbers of luminous Rays darted from it upward and downwards, (or else passing cross it from the Horizon) at oblique Angles pointing to the Zenith, especially from the North East part. This continued, as near as I can guess (by the distance I rode) about 8 or 9 Minutes, when it divided and disappeared. After an Interval of 3 or 4 Minutes, another Iris-like Figure appeared, (of a Colour (as it seemed) paler than any of the streaming Lights had been) whose Diameter was less than that of the former, and shewed more than its Semicircle above the Horizon, the upper part of its Arch approaching near the Zenith. I could not observe any Rays to pass from, (or across) this as from the other. The Centre of this last was much more to the West than that of the first. After the continuance of a Minute or two, it began to break in the upper part of its Arch and shining Particles being sent out from both its broken Ends towards the Zenith, (to which they were near before) or rather a little beyond it to the South or South West, they there formed a sort of Corona, curving and bending somewhat like Flames reverberated on the Arch of an Oven: tho' this expresseth it but badly, yet I know not how to describe it better. It seemed to me and others to be finely tinged with various Colours, Red-Yellow and Blueish, &c. and sent out every way from it (except South and South-west) long flame-coloured Rays. After this had continued about two Minutes, its shining Light abated, and it left behind it for some Minutes, something like a whitish Cloud (like in Colour to what the Light on the 19th of March last left behind it, after the fiery Particles were extinguished, but thinner). N.B. All this while the Moon shone very bright, from which this Corona was not very far distant, perhaps not twenty Degrees, to the North East. After this there continued to be sent up many fiery Coloured or Yellowish streaming Lights, sometimes more, sometimes less, now here, now there, all along the North part of the Hemisphere, but mostly from the North North East. All this while something like small whitish Clouds (which to me seemed to move towards the Zenith, or to point a little more Southward, but disappear'd as they approached the Moon) were carried very swiftly, and at very short intervals, mostly coming from the East and North East, but many also from North and North West. We took but little notice of this at first, supposing it had been nothing but the reflection of the other Lights, or the shadows of the Clouds (whereof the North parts were pretty full) as the streams of Light past behind them: But at last we observed that when the Lights at any time abated, these kind of Clouds continued to fly as swift and frequent as ever. This I saw till Twelve or One next Morning: many others saw it next Morning till almost break of Day, when it appeared much more red and fiery than it was in the Evening; the Moon perhaps being being then set. Some People observed tall Cones to arise in the East, and to be carryed to the West pretty swiftly in an erect Position, but I saw them not. It has been represented here in all sorts of Appearances, Armies, Battles, &c. and has put abundance of People in dismal Frights: But I had not an Imagination strong enough for it, &c. Novemb. 16. Will. Maunder. VI. A further relation of the same Appearance as seen at Dublin, communicated to the Publisher by an unknown Hand. It is with pleasure that I now give you the trouble of reading the ensuing Account of the surprizing Lights which on Tuesday the tenth of November we saw in the Northern Semicircle of our Horizon. The Afternoon was very Calm and Serene; about six in the Evening the Sky was ting'd with a strange kind of Light, and some Streams began to project from the North and North East. One of them arose about N by E. and was nearly a Subtense of an Arc between that and S.W. by West; it was a little curvated toward the Sun, and what I saw of it (for the North part of the Horizon was conceal'd by Houses) very much resembled the tail of a Comet: About the same time there was one or two which arose in the East, ascending obliquely so as to leave the Zenith several Degrees to the Northward. These Striae continu'd to appear and disappear alternately till toward Eight in the Evening; they were Pyramidal, and their Vertices frequently projected several Degrees to the South of our Zenith.