A loud shout of attention, surprise and half
extemporized terror rose from the multitudes about us. It was a
breathless moment. The oncoming shoals shot forward in rapid jets of
fire now clouded together in igneous masses, now separated in disjointed
streaks and radiant clusters of snapping, shining bolts.
"As yet the material rushing in upon us failed, in most instances, to
reach the ground in solid forms. It was burned up in the air. The
spectacle was surpassingly strange. The air before us was weaved with
crossing shafts, threads, and traces of phosphorescent light. Behind
this veil still shone with responsive beauty the great city, while
rising occasionally in bursts of color, we could see the alarm rockets
from the opposite hills penetrate the entering flood of light with
frivolous and extinguished protests.
"About half an hour after the glory reached us, and as on all sides the
country shone in spectral illumination, a great mass, decrepitating with
minute explosions along its oncoming side, plunged down upon the noble
amphitheatre of glass. A dreadful sound of crashing stone followed, and
then, rapidly fired from the aerial batteries, came still more of the
dark, half ignited bodies, bathed in hurrying streams of evanescent
blades, and splinters of light.
"And now the destructive bombardment had really begun. The celestial
downpour increased, the valley below us sent upward the detonations of
exploding meteorites and the harsh reverberating crash and overthrow of
glass fabrics.
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