Chapter XXI: Part 21

In the city of Funchal, in the island of Madeira, a shock of this earthquake was felt at thirty-eight minutes past nine in the morning. It was preceded by a rumbling noise in the air, like that of empty carriages passing hastily over a stone pavement. The observer felt the floor beneath him immediately to be agitated by a tremulous motion, vibrating very quickly. The shock continued more than a minute; during which space the vibrations, although continual, were twice very sensibly weakened and increased in force. The increase after the first remission of the shock was the most intense. During the whole of its continuance it was accompanied by a noise in the air; and this lasted some seconds after the motion of the earth had ceased, dying away like a peal of distant thunder rolling through the air. At three-quarters past eleven, the sea, which was quite calm, suddenly retired several paces; when rising with a great swell, and without any noise, it as suddenly advanced, overflowed the shore, and entered the city. It rose fifteen feet perpendicularly above high-water mark, although the tide, which there flows seven feet, was at half-ebb. The water immediately receded; and after having fluctuated four or five times between high and low water mark, it subsided, and the sea remained calm as before. In the northern part of the island the inundation was more violent, the sea there retiring above a hundred paces at first, and suddenly returning, overflowed the shore, forcing open doors, breaking down the walls of several magazines and storehouses, and leaving great quantities of fish ashore and in the streets of the village of Machico. All this was the effect of one rising of the sea, for it never afterward flowed high enough to reach the high-water mark. It continued, however, to fluctuate here much longer before it subsided than at Funchal; and in some places further to the westward, it was hardly, if at all, perceptible.

These were the phenomena with which this remarkable earthquake was attended, in those places where it was most violent. The effects of it, however, reached to an immense distance; and were perceived chiefly by the agitations of the waters, or some slight motion of the earth. Its utmost boundaries to the south are unknown; the barbarousness of the African nations rendering it impossible to procure any intelligence from them, except where the effects were dreadful. On the north, however, we are assured, that it reached as far as Norway and Sweden. In the former kingdom, the waters of several rivers and lakes were violently agitated. In the latter, shocks were felt in several provinces, and all the rivers and lakes were strongly agitated, especially in Dalecarlia. The river Dala suddenly overflowed its banks, and as suddenly retired. At the same time, a lake at the distance of a league from it, and with which it had no manner of communication, bubbled up with great violence. At Fahlun, a town in Dalecarlia, several strong shocks were felt.

In many places of Germany the effects of this earthquake were very perceptible; but in Holland, the agitations were still more remarkable. At Alphen on the Rhine, between Leyden and Woerden, in the afternoon of the first of November, the waters were agitated to such a violent degree, that buoys were broken from their chains, large vessels snapped their cables, small ones were thrown out of the water upon the land, and others lying on land were set afloat. At Amsterdam, about eleven in the forenoon, the air being perfectly calm, the waters were suddenly agitated in the canals, so that several boats broke loose; chandeliers were observed to vibrate in the churches; but no motion of the earth, or concussion of any building was observed. At Haerlem, in the forenoon, for nearly four minutes, not only the waters in the rivers, canals, &c., but also all kinds of fluids in smaller quantities, as in coolers, tubs, &c., were surprisingly agitated, and dashed over the sides, though no motion was perceptible in the vessels themselves. In these small quantities also the fluid apparently ascended prior to its turbulent motion; and in many places, even the rivers and canals rose one foot perpendicularly.

The agitation of the waters was also perceived in various parts of Great Britain and Ireland. At Barlborough, in Derbyshire, between eleven and twelve in the forenoon, in a boat-house on the west side of a large body of water, called Pibley Dam, supposed to cover at least thirty acres of land, was heard a surprising and terrible noise; a large swell of water came in a current from the south, and rose two feet on the sloped dam-head at the north end of the water. It then subsided, but returned again immediately, though with less violence. The water was thus agitated for three-quarters of an hour; but the current grew every time weaker and weaker, till at last it entirely ceased.

At Busbridge, in Surrey, at half an hour after ten in the morning, the weather being remarkably still, without the least wind, in a canal nearly seven hundred feet long, and fifty-eight in breadth, with a small spring constantly running through it, a very unusual noise was heard at the east end, and the water there observed to be in great agitation. It raised itself in a heap or ridge in the middle; and this heap extended lengthwise about thirty yards, rising between two and three feet above the usual level. After this, the ridge heeled or vibrated toward the north side of the canal, with great force, and flowed above eight feet over the grass walk on that side. On its return back into the canal, it again ridged in the middle, and then heeled with yet greater force to the south side, and flowed over its grass walk. During this latter motion, the bottom on the north side was left dry for several feet. This appearance lasted for about a quarter of an hour, after which the water became smooth and quiet as before. During the whole time, the sand at the bottom was thrown up and mixed with the water; and there was a continual noise like that of water turning a mill. At Cobham, in Surrey, Dunstall, in Suffolk, Earsy Court, in Berkshire, Eatonbridge, Kent, and many other places, the waters were variously agitated.

At Eyam bridge, in Derbyshire Peak, the overseer of the lead mines, sitting in his writing-room, about eleven o’clock, felt a sudden shock, which very sensibly raised him up in his chair, and caused several pieces of plaster to drop from the sides of the room. The roof was so violently shaken, that he imagined the engine-shaft had been falling in. Upon this he immediately ran to see what was the matter, but found everything in perfect safety. At this time two miners were employed in carting, or drawing along the drifts of the mines, the ore and other materials to be raised up at the shafts. The drift in which they were working was about a hundred and twenty yards deep, and the space from one end to the other fifty yards or upward. The miner at the end of the drift had just loaded his cart, and was drawing it along; but he was suddenly surprised by a shock, which so terrified him, that he immediately quitted his employment, and ran to the west end of the drift to his partner, who was no less terrified than himself. They durst not attempt to climb the shaft, lest that should be running in upon them: but while they were consulting what means they should take for their safety, they were surprised by a second shock, more violent than the first; which frightened them so much, that they both ran precipitately to the other end of the drift. They then went down to another miner, who worked about twelve yards below them. He told them that the violence of the second shock had been so great, that it caused the rocks to grind upon one another. His account was interrupted by a third shock, which, after an interval of four or five minutes, was succeeded by a fourth, and, about the same space of time after, by a fifth; none of which were so violent as the second. They heard, after every shock, a loud rumbling in the bowels of the earth, which continued about half a minute, gradually descending, or seeming to remove to a greater distance.

At Shireburn Castle, Oxfordshire, a little after ten in the morning, a very strange motion was observed in the water of a moat which encompassed the building. There was a pretty thick fog, not a breath of air, and the surface of the water all over the moat was smooth as a looking-glass, except at one corner, where it flowed into the shore, and retired again successively, in a surprising manner. How it began to move is uncertain, as it was not then observed. The flux and reflux, when seen were quite regular. Every flood began gently, its velocity increasing by degrees, until at length it rushed in with great impetuosity, till it had attained its full hight. Having remained for a little time stationary, it then retired, ebbing gently at first, but afterward sinking away with great swiftness. At every flux the whole body of water seemed to be violently thrown against the bank; but neither during the time of the flux, nor that of the reflux, did there appear even the least wrinkle of a wave on the other parts of the moat. Lord Parker, who had observed this motion, being desirous to know whether it was universal over the moat, sent a person to the other corner of it, at the same time that he himself stood about twenty-five yards from him to examine whether the water moved there or not. He could not perceive any motion there; but another person, who went to the north-east corner of the moat, diagonally opposite to his lordship, found it as considerable there as where he was. His lordship imagining, that in all probability the water at the corner diagonally opposite to where he was would sink as that by him rose, ordered the person to signify by calling out, when the water by him began to sink, and when to rise. This he did; but to his lordship’s great surprise, immediately after the water began to rise at his own end, he heard the voice calling that it began to rise with him also; and in the same manner he heard that it was sinking at that end, soon after he perceived it to sink by himself. A pond just below was agitated in a similar manner; but the risings and sinkings happened at different times from those at the pond where Lord Parker stood.

At White Rock, in Glamorganshire, about two hours’ ebb of tide, and near a quarter to seven in the evening, a vast quantity of water rushed up with a great noise, floated two large vessels, the least of them above two hundred tuns’ burden, broke their moorings, drove them across the river, and nearly overset them. The whole rise and fall of this extraordinary body of water did not last above ten minutes, nor was it felt in any other part of the river, so that it seemed to have gushed out of the earth at that place.

Similar instances occurred at Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, in Scotland. At Kinsale, in Ireland, and all along the coast to the westward, many similar phenomena were observed.

Shocks were also perceived in several parts of France, as at Bayonne, Bourdeaux and Lyons; and commotions of the waters were observed at Angoulesme, Belleville, Havre de Grace, &c., but not attended with the remarkable circumstances above mentioned.

These are the most striking phenomena with which the earthquake of the first of November, 1755, was attended on the surface of the earth. Those which happened below ground can not be known but by the changes observed in springs, &c., which were in many places very remarkable.

At Tangier, all the fountains were dried up, so that there was no water to be had till night. A very remarkable change was observed in the medicinal waters of Toplitz, a village in Bohemia, famous for its baths. These waters were discovered in the year 762; from which time the principal spring had constantly thrown out hot water in the same quantity, and of the same quality. On the morning of the earthquake, between eleven and twelve, in the forenoon, this principal spring cast forth such a quantity of water, that in the space of half an hour all the baths ran over. About half an hour before this great increase of the water, the spring flowed turbid and muddy; then, having stopped entirely for a minute, it broke forth again with prodigious violence, driving before it a considerable quantity of reddish ocher. After this, it became clear, and flowed as pure as before. It still continued to do so, but the water was in greater quantity, and hotter, than before the earthquake. At Angoulesme, in France, a subterraneous noise, resembling thunder, was heard; and presently after, the earth opened, and discharged a torrent of water, mixed with red sand. Most of the springs in the neighborhood sunk in such a manner, that for some time they were thought to be quite dry. In Britain, no considerable alteration was observed in the earth, except that, near the lead mine above-mentioned, in Derbyshire, a cleft was observed about a foot deep, six inches wide, and one hundred and fifty yards in length.

At sea the shocks of this earthquake were felt most violently. Off St. Lucar, the captain of the Nancy frigate felt his ship so violently shaken, that he thought she had struck the ground; but, heaving the lead, he found she was in a great depth of water. Captain Clark, from Denia, in north latitude thirty-six degrees, twenty-four minutes, between nine and ten in the morning, had his ship shaken and strained as if she had struck upon a rock, so that the seams of the deck opened, and the compass was overturned in the binnacle. Tho master of a vessel bound to the American islands, being in north latitude twenty-five degrees, west longitude forty degrees, and writing in his cabin, heard a violent noise as he imagined, in the steerage; and while he was asking what the matter was, the ship was put into a strange agitation, and seemed as if she had been suddenly jerked up, and suspended by a rope fastened to the mast-head. He immediately started up with great terror and astonishment, and looking out at the cabin-window, saw land, as he took it to be, at the distance of about a mile. Coming upon the deck, the land was no more to be seen, but he perceived a violent current cross the ship’s way to the leeward. In about a minute, this current returned with great impetuosity; and at a league’s distance, he saw three craggy-pointed rocks throwing up waters of various colors, resembling fire. This phenomenon, in about two minutes, ended in a black cloud, which ascended very heavily. After it had risen above the horizon, no rocks were to be seen; though the cloud, still ascending, was long visible, the weather being extremely clear. Between nine and ten in the morning, another ship, forty leagues west of St. Vincent, was so strongly agitated, that the anchors, which were lashed, bounced up, and the men were thrown a foot and a half perpendicularly up from the deck. Immediately after this, the ship sunk in the water as low as the main-chains. The lead showed a great depth of water, and the line was tinged of a yellow color, and smelt of sulphur. The shock lasted about ten minutes; but they felt smaller ones for the space of twenty-four hours.

EARTHQUAKES IN SICILY, AND IN THE TWO CALABRIAS.

These earthquakes began on the fifth of February, 1783, and continued until the latter end of the May following, doing infinite damage, and exhibiting at Messina, in the parts of Sicily nearest to the continent, and in the two Calabrias, a variety of phenomena. The part of the Calabrian provinces most affected by this heavy calamity, lies between the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth degrees of latitude, being the extreme point of the continent; and the greatest force of the earthquakes was exerted at the foot of the particular mountains of the Apennines, named Monte Deio, Monte Sacro and Monte Caulone, extending westward to the Tyrrhene sea. The towns, villages and farm-houses, nearest to these mountains, whether situated on the hills, or in the plains, were totally ruined by the first shock, which happened about noon; and there the destruction of lives was the greatest. The towns still more remote, were, however, greatly damaged by the subsequent shocks, particularly those of the seventh, twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth of February, and that of the first of March. The earth was in a constant tremor, and its motions were various, being either vortical, horizontal or oscillatory, that is, by pulsations or beatings, from the bottom upward. This variety increased the apprehensions of the unfortunate inhabitants, who momentarily expected that the earth would open beneath their feet, and swallow them up. The rains had been continual and violent, often accompanied by lightning and furious gusts of wind. There were many openings and cracks in the earth; and several hills had been lowered, while others were quite level. In the plains, the chasms were so deep, that many roads were rendered impassable. Huge mountains were severed, and portions of them driven into the valleys, which were thus filled up. The course of several rivers was changed; and many springs of water appeared in localities which had before been perfectly dry.

From the city of Amantea, situated on the coast of the Tyrrhene sea, in lower Calabria, proceeding along the western coast to Cape Spartivento, in upper Calabria, and thence along the eastern coast to Cape Alice, a part of lower Calabria, on the Ionian sea, the towns and villages, amounting to nearly four hundred, whether on the coast or inland, were either totally destroyed, or suffered greatly. At Casal Nuovo, the Princess Gerace, and upward of four thousand of the inhabitants, lost their lives. At Bagnara, the number of dead amounted to upward of three thousand; and Radicina and Palmi experienced a similar loss. The total amount of the mortality occasioned by these earthquakes, in Sicily and the two Calabrias, was, agreeably to the official returns, thirty-two thousand, three hundred and sixty-seven; but Sir William Hamilton thought it still greater, and carries his estimate to forty thousand, including foreigners. On the first shock of the earthquake, on the fifth of February, the inhabitants of Scylla escaped from their houses, built on the rock, and, following the example of their prince, took shelter on the sea-shore. By this shock the sea had been raised and agitated so violently, that much damage had been done on the point of the Faro of Messina; but here it acted with still greater violence, for, during the night, an immense wave, which was falsely represented to have been boiling hot, and to have scalded many persons on its rising to a great hight, flowed furiously three miles inland, and swept off in its return two thousand, four hundred and seventy-three of the inhabitants, with the prince at their head, who were either at that time on the strand, or in boats near the shore.

The shocks felt since the commencement of these formidable earthquakes, amounted to several hundreds; and among the most violent may be reckoned the one which happened on the twenty-eighth of March. It affected most of the higher part of upper Calabria, and the inferior part of lower Calabria, being equally tremendous with the first. Indeed, these shocks were the only ones sensibly felt in Naples. With relation to the former, two singular phenomena are recorded. At the distance of about three miles from the ruined city of Oppido, in upper Calabria, was a hill, having a sandy and clayey soil, nearly four hundred feet in hight, and nearly nine hundred feet in circumference at its basis. This hill is said to have been carried to the distance of about four miles from the spot where it stood, into a plain called _Campo di Bassano_. At the same time, the hill on which the city of Oppido stood, and which extended about three miles, divided into two parts: being situated between two rivers, its ruins filled up the valley, and stopped their course, forming two large lakes, which augmented daily. The accounts from Sicily were of a most alarming nature. The greatest part of the fine city of Messina was destroyed by the shock of the fifth of February, and what remained was greatly injured by the subsequent shocks. The quay in the port had sunk considerably, and was in some places more than a foot beneath the water. That superb building, the palazzata, which gave the port a more magnificent appearance than any other in Europe could boast, was entirely thrown down; and the lazaretto greatly damaged. The citadel suffered little; but the cathedral was destroyed, and the tower at the point of the entrance of the harbor much damaged. The wave which had done so much mischief at Scylla, had passed over the point of land at the Faro, and swept away twenty-four persons. The accounts from Melazzo, Patti, Terra di Santa Lucia, Castro Reale, and from the island of Lipari, were very distressing, but the damage done there by the earthquakes not so considerable as at Messina.

Sir William Hamilton, from the limited boundaries of these earthquakes, was persuaded that they were caused by some great operation of nature, of a volcanic kind. To ascertain this, he began his tour by visiting the parts of the coasts of the two Calabrias which had suffered most from this severe visitation. He everywhere came to ruined towns and houses, the inhabitants of which were in sheds, many of them built on such insalubrious spots, that an epidemic had ensued. These unfortunate people agreed that every shock they had felt, seemed to come with a rumbling noise from the westward, beginning usually with the horizontal motion, and ending with the vortical (or whirling) motion, which last had ruined most of the buildings. It had also been generally observed, that, before a shock, the clouds seemed to be fixed and motionless; and that, after a heavy shower of rain, a shock quickly followed. By the violence of some of the shocks, many persons had been thrown down; and several of the peasants described the motion of the earth as so violent, that the tops of the largest trees almost touched the ground from side to side. During a shock, the oxen and horses, they said, kept their legs wide asunder, to prevent being thrown down, and gave evident signs of being sensible of the approach of each shock. Being thus warned, the neighing of a horse, the braying of an ass, or the cackling of a goose, drove them from their temporary huts.

From Monteleone, Sir William descended into the plain, and passed many towns and villages in a ruined state: the city of Mileto, lying in a bottom, was totally destroyed, without a house standing. Among the many examples afforded by these earthquakes, of animals being able to live a long time without food, was that of two hogs, which had remained buried under a heap of ruins at Soriano for forty-two days, and were dug out alive. He had frequent opportunities for observing that the habitations situated on high grounds, having a soil of a gritty sandstone, somewhat like granite, but without its consistence, suffered less than those in the plain, the soil of which is a sandy clay. The latter were universally leveled with the ground. During the first shock, he was told, a fountain of water, mixed with sand, had been forced to a considerable hight: prior to this phenomenon, the river was dry, but it soon returned and overflowed its banks. The other rivers in the plain underwent the like vicissitudes; to account for which, Sir William supposes the first impulsion of the earthquake to have come from the bottom upward; and that such was the fact, the inhabitants attested. The surface of the plain having suddenly risen, the rivers, which are not deep, would naturally disappear; and the plain seeking with violence its former level, the rivers would necessarily return and overflow, at the same time that the sudden depression of the boggy grounds would as naturally force out the water which lay hidden beneath the surface.

It had been stated, in the reports made to the government, that two tenements, named Macini and Vaticano, had, by the effect of the earthquake, changed their situation. In this fact Sir William agrees, and he accounts for it in the following manner. They were situated in a valley surrounded by high grounds, and the surface of the earth which had been removed, had probably been long undermined by the little rivulets which flow from the mountains, and which were in full view on the bare spot the tenements had deserted. He conjectures besides, that, the earthquake having opened some depositions of rain-water in the clayey hills which surrounded the valley, the water, mixing with the loose soil, and taking its course suddenly through the undermined surface, had lifted it up, together with the large olive and mulberry trees, and a thatched cottage, floating the entire piece of ground, with all its vegetation, about a mile down the valley, where he saw it, with most of the trees erect. These two tenements occupied a space of ground about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth. There were in the vicinity several deep cracks in the earth, not one of which was then more than a foot in breadth; but Sir William was credibly assured, that, during the earthquake, one had opened wide, and had swallowed up an ox and nearly a hundred goats. In this valley he saw hollows, in the form of inverted cones, from which water and sand had been ejected violently at the time of the earthquakes, similar to those which had been pointed out to him at Rosarno. As well at the latter place, as in every ruined town he visited, an interesting remark was made to him, namely, that the male dead were generally found under the ruins, in the attitude of struggling against the danger; but that the attitude of the females was usually with the hands clasped over the head, as if giving themselves up to despair, unless they had children near them: in this case they were always found clasping them in their arms, or in some attitude which indicated their anxious care to protect them. How striking an instance of maternal tenderness!

Sir William traveled four days in the plain, in the midst of indescribable misery. Such was the force of the first shock, on the fifth of February, that the inhabitants of the towns were buried in an instant beneath the ruins of their houses. Of the population of the town of Polistene, which was badly situated between two rivers, wont to overflow their banks, twenty-one hundred individuals perished out of six thousand. It was built near a ravine of great depth; and, by the violent motion of the earth, two huge portions of the ground on which a considerable part of the town, consisting of several hundreds of houses, stood, were detached into the ravine, and nearly across it, to the distance of about half a mile from their original position. What was most extraordinary, many of the inhabitants of these houses, who had taken this singular leap in them, were dug out alive, and several unhurt. Terra Nuova lost three-fourths of a population of sixteen hundred inhabitants; and near to this town and to the ravine, many acres of land covered with trees and corn-fields had been detached and thrown into the latter, often without having been overturned, insomuch that the trees and crops were growing as well as if they had been planted there. Other such pieces of ground were lying in the bottom, in an inclined situation; and others, again, were quite overturned. Two immense portions of land, having been detached opposite to each other, filled the valley, and stopped the course of the river, the waters of which formed a great lake.

Having walked over the ruins of Oppido, Sir William descended into the ravine, which he carefully examined. Here he saw the wonderful force of the earthquake, which had produced exactly the same effects as in the ravine of Terra Nuova, but on a scale infinitely greater. The enormous masses of the plain, detached from each side of the ravine, lay in confused heaps, forming real mountains; and, having stopped the course of two rivers, great lakes were formed. He occasionally met with a detached piece of the surface of the plain, many acres in extent, with the large oaks and olive-trees, having lupines and corn beneath them, growing as well, and in as good order at the bottom of the ravine, as their companions from which they had been separated, were in the plain, at least five hundred feet higher, and at the distance of about three-quarters of a mile. Entire vineyards, which had taken a similar journey, were in the same order in the bottom. In another part of the ravine was a mountain, composed of a clayey soil, which was probably a portion of the plain, detached by an earthquake at some former period: it was in hight about two hundred and fifty feet, and about four hundred feet in diameter at its basis. It was well attested, Sir William observes, that this mountain traveled down the ravine nearly four miles, having been put in motion by the first shock. The abundance of rain which fell at that time; the great weight of the newly detached pieces of the plain, which were heaped up at its back; the nature of its soil; and particularly its situation on a declivity: these, in his opinion, satisfactorily account for this phenomenon. The Prince of Cariati showed him two girls, one of the age of about sixteen years, who had remained eleven days without food under the ruins of a house in Oppido; and the other, about eleven years of age, who had been under the same circumstances six days, but in a very confined and distressing posture.

Sir William describes the port of Messina, and the town, in their half-ruined state, when viewed by moonlight, as strikingly picturesque. On landing, he was assured by several fishermen, that, during the earthquake of the fifth of February, at night the sand near the sea was hot, and that in many parts they saw fire issue from the earth. This had been often repeated to him in the Calabrian plain; and the idea he entertained was, that the exhalations which issued during the violent commotions of the earth, were full of electric fire, just as the smoke of volcanoes is constantly observed to be during violent eruptions; for he did not, during any part of his tour, perceive an indication of volcanic matter having issued from the fissures of the earth. He was, therefore, convinced that the whole damage had been done by exhalations and vapors only. In this city, where they had so long an experience of earthquakes, he was told, that all animals and birds are, in a greater or less degree, more sensible of an approaching shock of an earthquake than any human being; but that geese, above all, were the soonest and the most alarmed at the approach of a shock: if in the water, they quit it immediately, and they can not be driven into it for some time after.

The force of the earthquakes, although very violent at Messina, and at Reggio, on the opposite side of the strait, was not to be compared to that which was felt in the plain. In the former city the mortality did not exceed seven hundred, of a population of thirty thousand. A curious circumstance happened there also, to prove that animals can sustain life for a long time without food. Two mules belonging to the Duke of Belviso, remained under a heap of ruins, the one twenty-two, and the other twenty-three days: for some days after they refused their food, but drank plentifully, and finally recovered. There were numberless instances of dogs remaining many days in the same situation; and a hen, belonging to the British vice-consul, having been closely shut up beneath the ruins of his house, was taken out on the twenty-second day, and recovered, although at first it showed but little signs of life: like the mules, it did not eat for some days, but drank freely. From these instances, and from those above related, of the girls at Oppido, and the hogs at Soriano, as well as from several others of the same kind, it may be concluded, that long fasting is always attended with great thirst, and a total loss of appetite.

A circumstance worth recording, and which was observed throughout the whole coast of the part of the Calabrian provinces which had been most affected by the earthquakes, was, that a description of small fishes, named =cicirelli=, resembling what in England are called white-bait, but larger, and which usually lie at the bottom of the sea, buried in the sand, were, from the commencement of these earthquakes, and for a considerable time after, taken near the surface, and in such abundance as to become the common food of the poorer sort of people; whereas, before these events, they were rare, and reckoned among the greatest delicacies. Fishes in general having been taken, wherever the effects of the shocks had reached, in much greater abundance, and with greater facility than before, Sir William conjectures, either that the bottom of the sea may have been heated by the volcanic fire beneath it, or that the continual tremor of the earth had driven the fishes out of their strongholds, in the same way as an angler, when he wants a bait, obliges the worms to come out of a turf on the river-side, by trampling on it with his feet, which motion never fails of its effect.

The commandant of the citadel of Messina, assured him, that on the fatal fifth of February, and the three following days, the sea, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile from that fortress, rose and boiled in a most extraordinary manner, and with a horrid and alarming noise, while the water in the other parts of the Faro was perfectly calm. This appeared to him to point out exhalations or eruptions from cracks at the bottom of the sea, which were probably made during the violence of the earthquakes; and to these phenomena he ascribes a volcanic origin. He thus attempts to explain the nature of the formidable wave which was represented as boiling hot, and which, as has been already noticed, was so fatal to the inhabitants of Scylla.

Sir William concludes by remarking, that the local earthquakes here described, appear to have been caused by the same kind of matter as that which gave birth to the Æolian or Lipari isles. He conjectures that an opening may have been made at the bottom of the sea, most probably between Stromboli and upper Calabria; for from that quarter, it was agreed by all, the subterraneous noises seemed to proceed. He adds, that the foundation of a new island, or volcano, may have been laid, although it may be ages, which to nature are but moments, before it shall be completed, and appear above the surface of the sea. Nature is ever active; but her acts are in general carried on so very slowly, as scarcely to be perceptible to the mortal view, or recorded in the very short space of what we call history, let it be ever so ancient. It is probable, also, he observes, that the whole of the destruction he has described, may have simply proceeded from the exhalations of confined vapors, generated by the fermentation of such minerals as produce volcanoes, which would escape where they met with the least resistance, and would consequently affect the plain in a greater degree than the high and more solid grounds by which it is surrounded.

Count Francesco Ippolito, in speaking of the last great shock of the twenty-eighth of March, as it affected the Calabrian territory, is persuaded that it arose from an internal fire in the bowels of the earth, for it took place precisely in the mountains which cross the neck of the peninsula formed by the two rivers, the Lameto and the Corace, the former of which flows into the gulf of St. Euphemia, and the latter into the Ionian sea. All the phenomena it displayed, made this evident. Like the other shocks, it came in a south-west direction: the earth at first undulated, then shook, and finally rocked to and fro to such a degree, that it was scarcely possible to stand. It was preceded by a terrible groan from beneath the ground; and this groan, which was of the same duration with the shock, terminated with a loud noise, like that of the explosion of a mine. These thunderings accompanied not only the shock of that night, and of the succeeding day, but likewise all the others which were afterward felt; at the same time that the earth was continually shaken, at first every five minutes, and subsequently each quarter of an hour. During the night, flames were seen to issue from the ground in the neighborhood of Reggio, toward the sea, to which the explosion extended, insomuch that many of the peasants ran away through fear. These flames issued precisely from a spot where some days before an extraordinary heat had been perceived. After this great shock there appeared in the air, in a slanting direction, and toward the cast, a whitish flame, resembling electric fire: it was seen for the space of two hours.

Several hills were either divided or laid level; and within the surface of the earth apertures were made, from which a great quantity of water, proceeding either from subterraneous concentrations, or from the rivers adjacent to the ground thus broken up, spouted for several hours. From one of these openings, in the territory of Borgia, and about a mile from the sea, there issued a large quantity of salt water, which for several days imitated the motions of the sea. Warm water likewise issued from the apertures made in the plains of Maida. In all the sandy parts, where the explosion took place, there were observed, from distance to distance, apertures in the form of an inverted cone, emitting water, and which seemed to prove the escape of a flake of electric fire. Amid the various phenomena which either preceded or followed this particular shock, the following are well deserving of notice. The water of a well at Maida, which was of an excellent quality, was affected, just before the shock, with so disgusting a sulphurous flavor, that it could not even be smelled. On the other hand, at Catanzaro, the water of a well, which before could not be used, on account of its possessing a strong smell of calcination, became drinkable. For a long time before the earth shook, the sea was considerably agitated, so as to terrify the fishermen, at the same time that there was not a breath of wind. On the side of Italy, the volcanoes had not emitted any eruptions for a considerable time before; but in the same way as, during the first great shock, Etna was in flames, so Stromboli emitted fire during this last.

EARTHQUAKES IN PERU, &c.

South America has been at all times very subject to earthquakes; and it is remarkable, that the city of Lima, the capital of Peru, situated in about twelve degrees of south latitude, although scarcely ever visited by tempests, and equally unacquainted with rain as with thunder and lightning, has been singularly exposed to their fury. They, indeed, happen so frequently there, that the inhabitants are under continual apprehensions of being, from their suddenness and violence, buried beneath the ruins of their houses. Still they have their presages, one of the principal of which is a rumbling noise in the bowels of the earth, heard about a minute before the shocks are felt, and seeming to pervade all the subterraneous adjacent parts. This is followed by the dismal howlings of the dogs, who seem to give notice of the approaching danger; while the beasts of burden, in their passage through the streets, stop suddenly, as it were by a natural instinct, and seek the attitude which may best secure them from falling. On these portents, the terrified inhabitants flee from their houses into the streets, forming large assemblies, in the midst of which cries of children are blended with the lamentations of the females, whose agonizing prayers to the saints increase the common fear and confusion. In a word, the entire city exhibits a dreadful scene of consternation and horror.

Since the establishment of the Spaniards in Peru, the first earthquake in this capital happened in 1582; but the damage it did was much less considerable than that of some of those which succeeded. Six years after Lima was again visited by an earthquake, the results of which were so dreadful, that it is still solemnly commemorated every year. In 1609, a third convulsion threw down many houses: and on the twenty-seventh of November, 1630, so much damage was done by an earthquake, that in acknowledgment of the city not having been entirely demolished, a festival is also on that day annually celebrated. On the third of November, 1654, the most stately edifices in Lima, and a great number of houses, were destroyed by a similar event; but the inhabitants having had timely presages, withdrew themselves from their houses, insomuch that few perished. In 1678, another dreadful concussion took place.

Among the most tremendous earthquakes with which the Peruvian capital has been visited, may be reckoned that which happened on the twenty-eighth of October, 1687. The first shock was at four in the morning, when several of the finest public buildings and houses were destroyed, with the loss of many lives. This was, however, merely a prelude to what followed; for, two hours after, a second shock was felt, with such impetuous concussions, that all was laid in ruins, and every description of property lost. During this second shock the sea retired considerably, and then returned in mountainous waves, entirely overwhelming Callao, the seaport of Lima, distant five miles, as well as the adjacent country, together with the wretched inhabitants. From that time six other earthquakes were felt at Lima, prior to that of 1746, which likewise happened on the twenty-eighth of October, at half past ten at night. The early concussions were so violent, that in somewhat more than three minutes, the greater part (if not all) of the buildings in the city, were destroyed, burying under their ruins such of the inhabitants as had not made sufficient haste into the streets and squares, the only places of safety. At length the horrible effects of the first shock ceased; but the tranquillity was of short duration, the concussions swiftly succeeding each other. The fort of Callao was dilapidated; but what this building suffered from the earthquake, was inconsiderable when compared with the dreadful catastrophe which followed. The sea, as is usual on such occasions, receding to a considerable distance, returned in mountainous waves, foaming with the violence of the agitation, and suddenly buried Callao and the neighboring country in its flood. This, however, was not entirely effected by the first swell of the waves; for the sea, retiring still further, returned with greater impetuosity, and covered not only the buildings, but also the lofty walls of the fortress: so that what had even escaped the first inundation, was totally overwhelmed by these succeeding mountainous waves. Of twenty-three ships and vessels of light burden, then in the harbor, nineteen were sunk; and the four others, among which was a frigate, named the San Firmin, were carried by the force of the waves to a considerable distance up the country. This terrible inundation extended, as well as the earthquake, to other parts of the coast, and several towns underwent the fate of Lima. The number of persons who perished in that capital, within two days after the earthquake commenced, on an estimate of the bodies found, amounted to thirteen hundred, beside the wounded and maimed, many of whom survived their tortures but a short time.

The earthquake of Jamaica, in 1692, was one of the most dreadful history has had to record. In the space of two minutes it destroyed the town of Port Royal, and sunk the houses in a gulf forty fathoms deep. It was attended with a hollow, rumbling noise, like that of thunder. In less than a minute, the greater part of the houses, on one side of the streets, were, with their inhabitants, sunk beneath the water, while those on the other side were thrown into heaps, the sandy soil on which they were built rising like the waves of the sea, and suddenly overthrowing them on its subsidence. The water of the wells was discharged with a most vehement agitation; and the sea was equally turbulent, bursting its mounds, and deluging whatever came in its way. The fissures in the earth were in some places so great, that one of the streets appeared of more than twice its original breadth. In many places the earth opened and closed again; and this agitation continued for a considerable time. Several hundreds of these openings were to be seen at the same moment: in some of them the wretched inhabitants were swallowed up; while in others, the earth suddenly closing, caught them by the middle, and thus crushed them to death. Other openings, still more dreadful, swallowed up entire streets; while others, again, spouted up cataracts of water, drowning those whom the earthquake had spared. The whole was attended with a most noisome stench. The thunderings of the distant falling mountains, the sky overcast with a dusky gloom, and the crash of the falling buildings, gave unspeakable horror to the scene. This dreadful calamity having ceased, the whole island exhibited a scene of desolation. Few of the houses which had not been swallowed up were left standing; and whatever grew on the plantations shared in the universal ruin. These cultivated spots were now converted into large pools of water, which when dried up by the sun, left so many plains of barren sand. The greater part of the rivers had, during the earthquake, been choked by the falling in of the detached masses of mountains; and it was not until some time after, that they made themselves new channels. The mountains seem to have been more particularly exposed to the force of the first tremendous shock; and it was conjectured that the principal seat of the concussion was among them. Such of the inhabitants as were saved, sought shelter on board the ships in the harbor, and remained there above two months, the shocks continuing during that interval with more or less violence every day.

EARTHQUAKE IN VENEZUELA.

On the twenty-sixth of March, 1812, between four and five in the afternoon, Venezuela was visited by one of those tremendous earthquakes which now and then ruin whole provinces. During a minute and fifteen seconds the earth was convulsed in every direction, and nearly twenty thousand persons fell victims. The towns of Caraccas, La Guayra, Mayquetia, Merida and San Felipe, were totally destroyed. Barquisimeto, Valencia, La Vittoria, and others, suffered considerably. This catastrophe happened on Holy Thursday, a day when the Romish church peculiarly commemorates the sufferings of our blessed Redeemer, and at the very hour when the people were crowding into the churches to attend the processions which are usual in Roman Catholic countries, and to see the representation of our Saviour led to the cross. Troops are placed on such occasions at the entrance of the churches to follow the procession; and many churches, and the principal barracks at Caraccas, being thrown down, there was a considerable number of soldiers killed, and many thousand persons crushed under their ruins. The arms and ammunition destined for the defense of the country were buried in a similar manner; and what was worse, an unconquerable enemy to the independence of Venezuela seemed to raise its head from among the ruins—that religious prejudice which the earthquake inspired. In an era less remarkable, a mere convulsion of nature would have had no influence on a new government; but, notwithstanding the prosperity Venezuela then enjoyed, the seeds of discontent had fallen on one class of the community. The principles which formed the basis of the new constitution were democratical, and it had been necessary to deprive the priesthood of some of their privileges, which of course created enmity in their minds to the present government. Immediately after the earthquake, the priests proclaimed, that the Almighty condemned the revolution: they denounced his wrath on all who favored it; and a counter-revolution, attended by great bloodshed, was the unhappy consequence.

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CONNECTION OF EARTHQUAKES WITH VOLCANOES.

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ISLAND OF JAVA.

The connection of earthquakes with volcanoes has been already noticed; and a remarkable occurrence of this nature happened in Java. Papandayang was formerly one of the largest volcanoes in that island; but in the month of August, 1772, the greatest part of it was, after a short but severe combustion, swallowed up by a dreadful convulsion of the earth. This event was preceded by an uncommonly luminous cloud, attended with flashes of light, by which the mountain was completely enveloped, and which so terrified the inhabitants dwelling at the foot and on its declivities, that they betook themselves to flight. Before they could all save themselves, however, the mountain began to give way, and the greater part of it actually _fell in_ and disappeared in the earth. At the same time, a tremendous noise was heard, resembling the discharge of the heaviest cannon; while the immense quantities of volcanic substances which were thrown out, and spread in every direction, extended the effects of the explosion through the space of many miles.

It was estimated that an extent of ground, belonging to the mountain itself, and to its immediate environs, fifteen miles in length, and six in breadth, was by this commotion swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Six weeks after the catastrophe, persons who were sent to examine the condition of the surrounding territory, reported, that it was impossible to approach the mountain, on account of the heat of the substances which covered its circumference, and which were piled on each other to the hight of three feet. It has been reported, that forty villages, partly swallowed up by the opening of the earth, and partly covered by the substances ejected, were destroyed on this melancholy occasion, with the loss of nearly three thousand lives. A proportionate number of cattle was destroyed; and the greater part of the plantations of cotton, indigo and coffee, in the adjacent districts, were buried beneath the volcanic matter. The effects of this explosion were long apparent on the remains of the volcanic mountain.

We here introduce a sketch of several curious and novel details of volcanic phenomena in Java, on account of their intimate connection with the subterraneous operations of nature in the production of earthquakes. It may be considered as supplementary to the detailed account of volcanoes given at the beginning of this work.

There are in Java thirty-eight large mountains, which, although they differ from each other in external figure, agree in the general attribute of volcanoes, by their having a broad base, which gradually verges toward the summit, in the form of a cone. One of these is named Tankuban-Prahu, on account of its resembling, at a distance, a boat turned upside down: it forms a vast truncated cone. Its base extends to a considerable distance, and it is not only one of the largest mountains in the island, but a most interesting volcano. Although it has not for many ages had any violent eruption, as is evident from the progress of vegetation, and from the depth of black mold which covers its sides, its interior has continued in a state of uninterrupted activity. Its crater is large, and has, in general, the shape of a funnel, but with its sides very irregular: the brim, or margin, which bounds it at the top, has also different degrees of elevation, rising and descending along the whole course of its circumference. This may be estimated at a mile and a half; and the perpendicular depth on the south side, where it is very steep, is at least two hundred and fifty feet: toward the west it rises considerably higher. The bottom of the crater has a diameter of nine hundred feet, but is not regular in its form, which depends on the meeting of the sides below.