ijyl Eatihguaie in Tent. 



•theirrourfe by dams ofeftrth. Others again, after *the agitation of frequc»t flioci^, rcmainei 

 in a ftate fo ruinous as to threaten their immediatfe deftruiSlion. Sixteen thouliind men are 

 reckoned to have perifhed in the firft and fubfequent {hocks. At ten in the morning, and 

 at four in the evening of the fame day (Feb. 4), after a dreadful noife the earth fhook with 

 additional force, and continued to tremble, though with lefs efFsift, during the whole of the 

 -months of February and March. On the fifth of April, at three quarters pad two in the 

 •morning, the villages already in part deftroy d were again fo ftrongly agitated as to have 

 **&mpleted this overthrow. Thefe fliocks were felt through country extending 140 leagues 

 ffrom eaft to weft,; that is to fay, from the fea coaft to the River of Napo, and doubt- 

 ;Iefs fliill ferther.; for we are little acquainted with thofe parts which are inhabited by the 

 natives, and /rom N.E. to S.W, from Popajan to Piura, which is reckoned 170 leagues. 

 ;(The volcano of Tunguragua had before eccafioned an earthquake in 1557.) But in the centre 

 ,of this diftrift lies the part which is totally deftroyed, to the extent of 40 leagues north and 

 :fouth from Guarandam to Machache, and 20 leagues from eaft to weft. 



But as if this earthquake had not been fulEcient to ruin a country of fuch fertility, riches, 

 and population, there was another misfortune prepared for the fuft'erers which had never be- 

 :fore been known. The earth opened and formed immenfe gulphs ; the fummits of the 

 .mountains rolled down .into the vallies, and from their burftsn flanks there iflued a quan- 

 tity of fetid water, .fo immenfe that in a fliort time it filled vallies one thoufand feet wide, 

 and fix hundred feet deep. It covered the villages, the edifices, and the inhabitants ; clofing 

 •the mouths of the fprings of fine waters, and condenfing by drying in a few days into a very 

 hard earthy pafte, which intercepted the courfe of rivers, caufing them to return or deviate 

 for 87 days, and converted what was formerly dry land into lakes. 



During thefe earthquakes many of the moft extraordinary events happened, which will no 

 .doubt be recorded in the jiage of hiftcJry. 1 fhall here relate only two. At the very in- 

 stant of the earthquake, the lake Quirrotoa, near the village Infiloc, in the jurifdidlion of 

 Lacatunga, took fire, and its vapours fufFocated the herds which fed in the neighbouring 

 lands. Near the town of Pallileo ftood a large mountain, named Moya, which being over- 

 .thrown i& an inftant, vomited a river of the thick and fetid matter, which covered and com- 

 pleted the deftrudlion of that wretched town. The naturalift will hereafter find in thefe 

 ^ Jefolated traits objects worthy of his refearches. Specimens of the minerals and earths 

 of Tunguragua have been fent to Spain ; but thefe will not fufEce to indicate the caufes 

 of thefe aftonifhing phenomena. For this purpofe it will be neceflary to vifit the grctiiid 

 itfelf, where this confliiSt of the elements took place^ and has left the ruinous n-arks of its 

 ifioergy^ 



ACCOUNTS 



