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Read Nov. 22,
1764.
AUGUST the 1st 1750. Lat. 1° 56′ N. Malacca bearing about N. E. All this day there was a fresh breeze, S. to S. S. E. the weather being hot and sultry. The evening was fair and clear; and when day-light was gone, there was not a cloud in the sky; and the water was so clear of vapour or mist, that the stars could be seen to rise out of the horizon.
This serenity continued till about 2 A. M. when a black cloud appeared above the horizon in the W. and W. N. W. and continued to rise very fast; and the flashes of lightening, which proceeded from it, succeeded each other very fast. In 14 of an hour, it covered almost half the hemisphere, and as it approached, the wind from the S.E. began to fail, and died quite away at last.
By the time the clouds had covered half the hemisphere, the wind proceeded from it in great violence, and the flashes of lightening were very frequent, and we judged of their nearness to the ship by the interval betwixt the flash and report, according as this interval was longer or shorter. The whole heavens were now covered with this cloud, and the flashes of lightening happened at times on different sides of the ship, which had all the sails
