New Zealand Mail 1 Aug 1884
page 16 column 4 item 7

"A large meteor which was seen in the South Island on the evening
of the 20th inst., appears to have been of unusual size and
brilliancy, and to have been accompanied with curious 
manifestations. A correspondent at Waitepeka writes to the Otago
Daily Times: The meteor seen on Sunday evening, and noticed in
your paper from other districts, must have had a more singular
effect here than elsewhere. Those who had the good fortune to
witness it, declare that it was something magnificent, eclipsing
in its brightness and fervent light the electric light now
getting so common, and the meteor in its flight, showing many of
the colours of the rainbow; but the effects following were very
singular, for as soon as the meteor disappeared, a low rumbling
sound, like distant thunder, was heard as from underneath, and
a slight tremor was perceptible in several houses. This was
followed by a flash of lightening. The evening was clear and
starlit, with a slight tendency to frost."