From the 28th of October to the 3rd of November the reddish mist was thicker than usual: at night the heat was stifling yet the thermometer did not rise beyond 26°C. The sea breeze, which usually refreshed the air from eight to nine at night, was not felt at all. The air was sweltering hot, and the dusty, dry ground started cracking everywhere. On the 4th of November, around two in the afternoon, extraordinarily thick black clouds covered the tall Brigantín and Tataraqual mountains, and then reached the zenith. At about four it began to thunder way above us without rumbling; making a cracking noise, which often suddenly stopped. At the moment that the greatest electrical discharge was produced, twelve minutes past four, we felt two successive seismic shocks, fifteen seconds from each other. Everybody ran out into the street screaming. Bonpland, who was examining some plants, leaning over a table, was almost thrown to the floor, and I felt the shock very clearly in spite of being in my hammock. The direction of the earthquake was from north to south, rare in Cumanà. Some slaves drawing water from a well, some 18 to 20 feet deep next to the Manzanares river, heard a noise comparable to artillery fire, which seemed to rise up out of the well; a surprising phenomenon, though quite common in American countries exposed to earthquakes.