times till I reached home. But notwithstanding such exertion my hands and knees were almost as rigid with cold as the ground itself. In a few hours the ground became warmer, and before midday the frost disappeared.
Another Phenomenal Appearance. On Monday afternoon, July 9th a curiously shaped cloud rolled in from the south overland, and not much above the writer’s head, as he observed it from above the All Souls Convent. The same phenomenon was witnessed by many other persons, among whom was Mr. John Banks, who described it pretty much as I had done, thus:- “As seen from the West hill (Hastings), it had the appearance of a double cone, extending in apparent angular dimensions from the East hill to Pevensey Bay, and slightly curved upwards in the middle. At its eastern extremity was located a small fuzzy-looking cloud of a light colour, nearly white. The cloud, no doubt, owed its appearance to a horizontal whirlwind, proceeding westward. The part of cloud next to the land indicated by the lines on its surface that it was rolling onwards like an immense wave of the sea. When it became vertical over the West hill its well-defined outline was no more seen, but the extraordinary commotion – the eddying of its various parts , plainly indicated great atmospheric disturbance. I understand the whirlwind struck the land near Mr. Chamberlin’s houses at Eversfield place, but only a few yards in extent” There was a thunderstorm at night. A similar phenomenon was witnessed by myself from near the Gening(sic)-farm house on the morning when the tide so mysteriously and alarmingly flowed a second time from about half ebb; but on that occasion the longitudinal or horizontal whirlcloud appeared to roll forward on the surface of the water, and was very dark. This latter phenomenon has been elsewhere described.
A Spectral Phenomenon. This was witnessed by a visitor at Carlisle Parade who described it thus:- On Sunday the 22nd of July 1855, as myself and wife were on the height of the cliff immediately above the Lovers’ Seat, at about half-past 7 in the evening, watching the gradual approach of a fog-bank towards the shore, which extended itself for some distance, we observed, as it broke against the base of the cliff and rolled in fantastic forms through the valleys on each side and beneath us, one large mass of vapour which rose perpendicularly a little farther eastward. In a few moments we were not a little surprised to see it become quite luminous and our own shadows perfectly reflected in it, surrounded by a halo of most beautiful prismatic colours like a series of rainbows. It immediately struck me, from what I had previously read – though I had never witnessed one, that it was a mirage. I then turned my attention to the sun, which was just setting, with a red appearance, and about a quarter dipped below the horizon; and on again turning to the phenomenon before me I found it resembled that orb, not being a complete circle, but forming at its lower extremity -
