monitor began to move within me, I immediately seized the cup to hide myself from myself, and drank until the sense of intoxication was renewed. My friends advised me to behave like a man, and promised me their assistance, but the demon still haunted me, and I spurned their advice."

He readily admitted his participation in the Vineyard mutiny, revolt and robbery, and in the murder of Thornby; and, so impressed was he with the universal detestation and horror which his heinous crimes had excited against him, that he often inquired if he should not be murdered in the streets, in case he had his liberty, and was recognized. He would also frequently exclaim, "Oh, if I had got into Algiers, I should never have been in this prison, to be hung for murder!"

Though he gave no evidence of contrition for the horrible and multiplied crimes of which he confessed himself guilty, yet he evidently dwelt upon their recollection with great unwillingness. If a question was asked him, in regard to how the crews were generally destroyed, he answered. quickly and briefly, and instantly changed the topic either to the circumstances attending his trial, or to his exploits in Buenos Ayres. On being asked why with such cruelty he killed so many persons, after getting all their money, which was all he wanted, he replied that the laws themselves were responsible for so many murders; that, by those laws, a man has to suffer death for piracy, and the punishment for murder is no more,-besides, all witnesses are out of the way, and, consequently, if the punishment was different, there would not be so many murders.

On Friday, April twenty-second, 1831,

Gibbs and Wansley paid the penalty of their crimes. Both prisoners arrived at the gallows about twelve o'clock, accompanied by the marshal, his aids, and a body of United States marines. Two clergymen attended them to the fatal spot, where, everything being in readiness, the ropes were adjusted about their necks, and prayers offered. Gibbs addressed the spectators, acknowledging the heinousness of his career, and adding

"Should any of the friends of those whom I have been accessory to, or engaged in, the murder of, be now present, before my Maker I beg their forgiveness-it is. the only boon I ask—and, as I hope for pardon through the blood of Christ, surely this request will not be withheld by man, from a worm, like myself, standing, as I do, on the very verge of eternity! Another moment, and I cease to exist-and could I find in my bosom room to imagine that the spectators now assembled had forgiven me, the scaffold would have no terrors. My first crime was piracy, for which my life would pay the forfeit on conviction; no punishment could inflicted on me farther than that, and therefore I had nothing to fear but detection, for had my offenses been millions of times more aggravated than they now are, death must have satisfied all."

Gibbs shook hands with Wansley, the officers and clergymen, the caps were then drawn over the faces of the two criminals, and a handkerchief dropped by Gibbs as a signal to the executioner caused the cord to be severed, and in an instant they were suspended in air. Wansley expired with only a few slight struggles. Gibbs died hard.

tinuance, the day of judgment was believed to be only waiting for sunrise, and, long after the shower had ceased, the morbid and superstitious still were impressed with the idea that the final day was at least only a week ahead. Impromptu meetings for prayer were held in many places, and many other scenes of religious devotion, or terror, or abandonment of worldly affairs, transpired, under the influence of fear occasioned by so sudden and awful a display.

But, though in many districts the mass of the population were thus panic-stricken, through fear, as well as want of familiarity with the history of such appearances, the more enlightened were profoundly awed at contemplating so vivid a picture of the apocalyptic image-that of 'the stars of heaven falling to the earth, even as a fig tree casting her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' In describing the effect of this phenomenon upon the black population, a southern planter says:

'I was suddenly awakened by the most distressing cries that ever fell on my ears. Shrieks of horror and cries for mercy, could be heard from most of the negroes of three plantations, amounting in all to some six or eight hundred. While earnestly and breathlessly listening for the cause, I heard a faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and, taking my sword, stood at the door. At this moment I heard the same voice still beseeching me to rise, and saying, "O, my God, the world is on fire!" I then opened the door, and it is difficult to say which excited me most -the awfulness of the scene, or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upwards of one hundred lay prostrate on the ground, some speechless, and others uttering the bitterest moans, but with their hands raised, imploring God to save the world and them. The scene was truly awful, for never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell towards the earth; east, west, north, and south, it was the same.' word, the whole heavens seemed in motion. The display, as described in Professor Silliman's Journal, was seen all over North

In a

America. The chief scene of the exhibition was within the limits of the longitude of sixty-one degrees in the Atlantic ocean, and that of one hundred degrees in Central Mexico, and from the North American lakes to the southern side of the island of Jamaica.

Over this vast area, an appearance presented itself far surpassing, in grandeur and magnificence, the, loftiest reach of the human imagination. From two o'clock until broad daylight, the sky being perfectly serene and cloudless, an incessant play of dazzlingly brilliant luminosities was kept up in the whole heavens. Some of these were of great magnitude and most peculiar form. One, of large size, remained for some time almost stationary in the zenith, over the Falls of Niagara, emitting streams of light which radiated in all directions. The wild dash of the waters, as contrasted with the fiery commotion above them, formed a scene of unequaled and amazing sublimity. Arago computes that not less than two hundred and forty thousand meteors were at the same time visible above the horizon of Boston! To form some idea of such a spectacle, one must imagine a constant succession of fire-balls, resembling sky-rockets radiating in all directions, from a point in the heavens near the zenith, and following the arch of the sky towards the horizon. They proceeded to various distances from the radiating point, leaving after them a vivid streak of light, and usually exploding before they disappeared. The balls were of various sizes and degrees of splendor; some were mere points, but others were larger and brighter than Jupiter or Venus; and one, in particular, appeared to be nearly of the moon's size. But at Niagara, no spectacle so terribly grand and sublime was ever before beheld by man as that of the firmament descending in fiery torrents over the dark and roaring cataract!

Everywhere within the range of the exhibition, the first appearance was that of fire-works of the most imposing grandeur, covering the entire vault of heaven with myriads of fire-balls resembling sky-rock

ets. On more attentive inspection, it was seen that the meteors exhibited three distinct varieties, as follows, described by Dr. Olmsted :

First, those consisting of phosphoric lines, apparently described by a point. This variety was the most numerous, every-where filling the atmosphere, and resembling a shower of fiery snow driven with inconceivable velocity to the north of west, and transfixing the beholder with wondering awe.

Second, those consisting of large fireballs, which at intervals darted along the sky, leaving luminous trains which occasionally remained in view for a number of minutes, and, in some cases, for half an hour or more. This kind appeared more like falling stars, giving to many persons the very natural impression that the stars were actually falling from the sky; and it was principally this spectacle which caused such amazement and terror among the unenlightened classes.

Third, those undefined luminous bodies which remained nearly stationary in the heavens for a considerable period of time; these were of various size and form.

One of the most remarkable circumstances attending this display was, that the meteors all seemed to emanate from

sky, ran along the vault with immense velocity, describing in some instances an arc of thirty or forty degrees in less than four seconds. The trains which they left were commonly white, but were sometimes tinged with various prismatic colors.

One ball-seen at New Haven, and supposed to have been identical with one described by various observers that shot off in the north-west direction, and exploded a little northward of the star Capella, left, just behind the place of explosion, a phosphorescent train of peculiar beauty. The line of direction was at first nearly straight; but it soon began to contract in length, to dilate in breadth, and to assume the figure of a serpent drawing himself up, until it appeared like a small luminous cloud of vapor. This cloud was borne eastward, -the wind blowing gently in that direction,-opposite to the course in which the meteor had proceeded, remaining in sight several minutes.

Of the third variety of meteors, the following are remarkable examples. At Poland, Ohio, a luminous body was distinctly visible in the north-east for more than an hour; it was very brilliant, in the form of a pruning-hook, and apparently twenty feet long and eighteen inches

horizon, until it disappeared. At Niagara Falls, a large, luminous body, shaped like a square table, was seen nearly in the zenith, remaining for some time almost stationary, and emitting large streams of

light. At Charleston, S. C., a meteor of extraordinary size was seen to course the heavens for a great length of time, and then was heard to explode with the noise of a cannon.

The point from which the meteors seemed to issue, was observed, by those who fixed the position of the display among the stars, to be in the constellation Leo. At New Haven, it appeared in the bend of the 'sickle '-a collection of stars in the breast of Leo,-a little to the westward of the star Gamma Leonis. By observers at other places remote from each other, it was seen in the same constellation, although in different parts of it. An interesting and important fact, in this connection, is, that this radiating point was stationary among the fixed stars that is, that it did not move along with the earth, in its diurnal revolution eastward, but accompanied the stars in their apparent progress westward.

According to the testimony of by far the greater number of observers, the meteors were, in general, unaccompanied by any very peculiar sound; but, on the other hand, such a sound, proceeding, as was supposed, from the meteors, was said to be distinctly heard by a few observers in various places. These sounds are represented either as a hissing noise, like the rushing of a sky-rocket, or as explosions, like the bursting of the same bodies; and these instances were too numerous to permit the supposition that they were imaginary.

A remarkable change of weather, from warm to cold, accompanied the meteoric. shower, or immediately followed it. In In all parts of the United States, this change was remarkable for its suddenness and intensity. In many places, the day preceding had been unusually warm for the season, but, before morning, a severe frost ensued, unparalleled for the time of year. Indeed, the seasons and atmospheric changes exhibited remarkable anomalies long after that period. Thus, in parts of Michigan, so uncommonly mild was the season throughout the latter part of

November, and the whole of December, that the Indians made maple sugar during this month, and the contiguous lakes remained unfrozen as late as January third. At the same period, the season in the south-western states, as far as New Orleans, was uncommonly cold. In most portions of New England, an unusually mild winter was succeeded by a remarkably cold and backward spring, requiring domestic fires to be kept throughout the month of May, and frequently in the month of June. A succession of gales

commenced about the time of the meteoric shower, first in the Atlantic ocean, and afterwards in various parts of the United States, almost unequaled in this country for their frequency and violence.

The meteors were constituted of very light, combustible materials. Their combustibility was rendered evident by their exhibiting the actual phenomena of combustion, being consumed, or converted into smoke, with intense light and heat; and the extreme tenuity of the substance composing them is inferred from the fact that they were stopped by the air. Had their quantity of matter been considerable, with so prodigious a velocity, they would have had a sufficient momentum to enable them to reach the earth, and the most disastrous consequences might have ensued. Upon submitting this subject to accurate calculation, upon established principles, Dr. Olmsted ascertained that the quantity of heat extricated from the air by the falling meteors, exceeded that of the hottest furnaces, and could be compared only to those immeasurable degrees of heat produced in the laboratory of the chemist, before which the most refractory substances are melted, and even dissipated in

vapor.

Some of the larger meteors must have been bodies of very great size. Dr. Smith, of North Carolina, and other persons in various places, saw a meteor which appeared as large as the full moon. If this body were at the distance of one hundred and ten miles from the observer, it must have had a diameter of one mile; if at a