voices, were certain of the exact spot where they lay buried beneath their feet, yet could afford them no succour. The piled mass resisted all their strength, and rendered their efforts of no avail. At Terranuova, four Augustin monks, who had taken refuge in a vaulted sacristy, the arch of which continued to support an immense pile of ruins, made their cries heard for the space of four days. One only of the brethren of the whole convent was saved, and "of what avail was his strength to remove the enormous weight of rubbish which had overwhelmed his companions?" He heard their voices die away gradually; and when afterwards their four corpses were disinterred, they were found clapsed in each other's arms. Affecting narratives are preserved of mothers saved after the fifth, sixth, and even seventh day of their interment, when their infants or children had perished with hunger. It might have been imagined that the sight of sufferings such as these would have been sufficient to awaken sentiments of humanity and pity in the most savage breasts, but nothing could exceed the atrocity of conduct and moral depravity displayed by the Calabrian peasants: they abandoned the farms, and flocked in great numbers into the towns-not to rescue their countrymen from a lingering death, but to plunder. They dashed through the streets, fearless of danger, amid tottering walls and clouds of dust, trampling beneath their feet the bodies of the wounded and half buried, and often stripping them, while yet living, of their clothes.* Concluding remarks.-But to enter more fully into these details would be foreign to the purpose of the present work, and several volumes would be required to give the reader a just idea of the sufferings which the inhabitants of many populous districts have undergone during the earthquakes of the last 140 years. A bare mention of the loss of life-as that fifty or a hundred thousand souls perished in one catastrophe-conveys to the reader no idea of the extent of misery inflicted: we must learn, from the narratives of eye-witnesses, the various forms in which death was encountered, the numbers who escaped with loss of limbs or serious bodily injuries, and the multitude who were suddenly reduced to penury and want. It has been often remarked, that the dread of earthquakes is strongest in the minds of those who have experienced them most frequently; whereas, in the case of almost every other danger, familiarity with peril renders men intrepid. The reason is obvious-scarcely any part of the mischief apprehended in this instance is imaginary; the first shock is often the most destructive; and, as it may occur in the dead of the night, or if by day, without giving the least warning of its approach, no forethought can guard against it; and when the convulsion has begun, no skill, or courage, or presence of mind, can point out the path of safety. During the intervals, of uncertain duration, between the more fatal Dolomieu, Ibid. shocks, slight tremors of the soil are not unfrequent; and as these sometimes precede more violent convulsions, they become a source of anxiety and alarm. The terror arising from this cause alone is of itself no inconsiderable evil. Although sentiments of pure religion are frequently awakened by these awful visitations, yet we more commonly find that an habitual state of fear, a sense of helplessness, and a belief in the futility of all human exertions, prepare the minds of the vulgar for the influence of a demoralizing superstition. Where earthquakes are frequent, there can never be perfect security of property under the best government; industry cannot be assured of reaping the fruits of its labour; and the most daring acts of outrage may occasionally be perpetrated with impunity, when the arm of the law is paralysed by the general consternation. It is hardly necessary to add, that the progress of civilization and national wealth must be retarded by convulsions which level cities to the ground, destroy harbours, render roads impassable, and cause the most cultivated valley-plains to be covered with lakes, or the ruins of adjoining hills. Those geologists who imagine that, at remote periods, ere man became a sojourner on earth, the volcanic agency was more energetic than now, should be careful to found their opinion on strict geological evidence, and not permit themselves to be biassed, as they have often been, by a notion, that the disturbing force would probably be mitigated for the sake of man. I shall endeavour to point out in the sequel, that the general tendency of subterranean movements, when their effects are considered for a sufficient lapse of ages, is eminently beneficial, and that they constitute an essential part of that mechanism by which the integrity of the habitable surface is preserved, and the very existence and perpetuation of dry land secured. Why the working of this same machinery should be attended with so much evil, is a mystery far beyond the reach of our philosophy, and must probably remain so until we are permitted to investigate, not our planet alone and its inhabitants, but other parts of the moral and material universe with which they may be connected. Could our survey embrace other worlds, and the events, not of a few centuries only, but of periods as indefinite as those with which geology renders us familiar, some apparent contradictions might be reconciled, and some difficulties would doubtless be cleared up. But even then, as our capacities are finite, while the scheme of the universe may be infinite, both in time and space, it is presumptuous to suppose that all sources of doubt and perplexity would ever be removed. On the contrary, they might, perhaps, go on augmenting in number; for it has been justly said, that the greater the circle of light, the greater the boundary of darkness by which it is surrounded.* CHAPTER XVI. EARTHQUAKES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY-continued. Earthquake of Guatimala, 1773—Java, 1772–Truncation of a lofty cone-St. Domingo, 1770-Colombia, 1766-Lisbon, 1755-Shocks felt throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and the West Indies-Great wave (p. 414.)-Conception Bay, 1750-Permanent elevation-Peru, 1746-Kamtschatka, 1737—Java, 1699 (p. 417.) -Rivers obstructed by landslips-Subsidence in Sicily, 1693-Moluccas, 1693Jamaica, 1692-Large tracts engulfed-Portion of Port Royal sunk-Amount of change in the last 140 years-Elevation and subsidence of land in Bay of Baie (p. 426.)-Evidence of the same afforded by the Temple of Serapis. In the preceding chapters we have considered a small part of those earthquakes only which have occurred during the last fifty years, of which accurate and authentic descriptions happen to have been recorded. We may next proceed to examine some of earlier date, respecting which information of geological interest has been obtained. Mexico, June, 1773.-The town of Guatimala was founded, in 1742, on the side of a volcano, in a valley about three miles wide, opening to the South Sea; nine years afterwards it was destroyed by an earthquake, and again, in 1773, during an eruption of the volcano. The ground on which the town stood gaped open in deep fissures, until at length, after five days, an abyss opened, and the city, with all its riches, and eight thousand families, was swallowed up. Every vestige of its former existence was entirely obliterated, and the spot is now indicated by a frightful desert, four leagues distant from the present town.* Java, 1772-Truncation of a lofty cone.-In the year 1772, Papandayang, formerly one of the loftiest volcanos in the island of Java, was in eruption. Before all the inhabitants on the declivities of the mountain could save themselves by flight, the ground began to give way, and a great part of the volcano fell in and disappeared. It is estimated that an extent of ground of the mountain itself and its immediate environs, fifteen miles long and full six broad, was by this commotion swallowed up in the bowels of the earth. Forty villages were destroyed, some being engulfed and some covered by the substances thrown out on this occasion, and 2957 of the inhabitants perished. A proportionate number of cattle were also killed, and most of the plantations of cotton, indigo, and coffee in the adjacent districts were buried under the volcanic matter. This catastrophe appears to have resembled, although on a grander scale, that of the ancient Vesuvius in the year 79. The cone was reduced in height * Von Hoff-Dodsley's Ann. Regist., vol. xvi. p. 149. from nine thousand to about five thousand feet; and, as vapours still escape from the crater on its summit, a new cone may one day rise out of the ruins of the ancient mountain, as the modern Vesuvius has risen from the remains of Somma.* Caucasus, 1772.-About the year 1772, an earthquake convulsed the ground in the province at Beshtau, in the Caucasus, so that part of the hill Metshuka sunk into an abyss.† St. Domingo, 1770.-During a tremendous earthquake which destroyed a great part of St. Domingo, innumerable fissures were caused throughout the island, from which mephitic vapours emanated and produced an epidemic. Hot springs burst forth in many places where there had been no water before; but after a time they ceased to flow.‡ Colombia, 1766.-On the 21st of October, 1766, the ground was agitated at once at Cumana, at Caraccas, at Maraycabo, and on the banks of the rivers Casenare, the Meta, the Orinoco, and the Ventuario. These districts were much fissured, and great fallings in of the earth took place in the mountain Paurari: Trinidad was violently shaken. A small island in the Orinoco, near the rock Aravacoto, sunk down and disappeared.§ At the same time the ground was raised in the sea near Cariaco, where the Point Del Gardo was enlarged. A rock also rose up in the river Guarapica, near the village of Maturin. The shocks continued in Colombia hourly for fourteen months. Hindostan, 1762.-The town of Chittagong, in Bengal, was violently shaken by an earthquake, on the 2d of April 1762, the earth opening in many places, and throwing up water and mud of a sulphureous smell. At a place called Bardavan a large river was dried up; and at Bakar Churak, near the sea, a tract of ground sunk down, and 200 people with all their cattle were lost. Unfathomable chasms are described as remaining open in many places after the shocks, and towns which subsided several cubits were overflowed with water; among others, Deep Gong, which was submerged to the depth of seven cubits. Two volcanos are said to have opened in the Secta Cunda hills. The shock was also felt at Calcutta. Lisbon, 1755.-In no part of the volcanic region of southern Europe has so tremendous an earthquake occurred in modern times as that which * Dr. Horsfield, Batav. Trans., vol. viii. p. 26. Dr. H. informs me that he has seen this truncated mountain: and, though he did not ascend it, he has conversed with those who have examined it. Raffles's account (History of Java, vol. i.) is derived from Horsfield. t Pallas's Travels in Southern Russia. Essai sur l'Hist. Nat. de l'Isle de St. Domingue, Paris, 1776. § Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. iv. p. 45; and Saggio di Storia Americana, vol. ii. p. 6. || Humboldt, Voy. Relat. Hist., part i. p. 307; and part ii. p. 23. ¶ Dodsley's Ann. Regist., 1763. For other particulars see Phil. Trans., vol. liii. began on the 1st of November, 1755, at Lisbon. A sound of thunder was heard underground, and immediately afterwards a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city. In the course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea first retired and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet or more above its ordinary level. The mountains of Arrabida, Estrella, Julio, Marvan, and Cintra, being some of the largest in Portugal, were impetuously shaken, as it were, from their very foundations; and some of them opened at their summits, which were split and rent in a wonderful manner, huge masses of them being thrown down into the subjacent valleys.* Flames are related to have issued from these mountains, which are supposed to have been electric; they are also said to have smoked; but vast clouds of dust may have given rise to this appearance. Subsidence of the Quay.-The most extraordinary circumstance which occurred at Lisbon during the catastrophe was the subsidence of a new quay, built entirely of marble at an immense expense. A great concourse of people had collected there for safety, as a spot where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; but, suddenly, the quay sank down with all the people on it, and not one of the dead bodies ever floated to the surface. A great number of boats and small vessels anchored near it, all full of people, were swallowed up, as in a whirlpool. No fragments of these wrecks ever rose again to the surface, and the water in the place where the quay had stood is stated, in many accounts, to be unfathomable; but Whitehurst says he ascertained it to be one hundred fathoms.‡ In this case, we must either suppose that a certain tract sank down into a subterranean hollow, which would cause a "fault" in the strata to the depth of six hundred feet, or we may infer, as some have done, from the entire disappearance of the substances engulfed, that a chasm opened and closed again. Yet, in adopting this latter hypothesis, we must suppose that the upper part of the chasm, to the depth of one hundred fathoms, remained open. Area over which the earthquake extended.-The great area over which this Lisbon earthquake extended is very remarkable. The movement was most violent in Spain, Portugal, and the north of Africa; but nearly the whole of Europe, and even the West Indies, felt the shock on the same day. A seaport, called St. Ubes, about twenty miles south of Lisbon, was engulfed. At Algiers and Fez, in Africa, the agitation of the earth was equally violent; and at the distance of eight leagues from Morocco, a village with the inhabitants, to the number of about eight or Hist. and Philos. of Earthquakes, p. 317. + Rev. C. Davy's Letters, vol. ii. Letter ii. p. 12, who was at Lisbon at the time, and ascertained that the boats and vessels said to have been swallowed were missing. On the Formation of the Earth, p. 55. VOL. I.-3 C |