1835.J SHINGLE-TERRACES OF COQUlMiiO. 343 



of the party, got up, and said he would never sit in a room in 

 these countries with the door shut, as, owing to liis having done 

 so, he had nearly lost his life at Copiapo. Accordingly he 

 opened the door ; and no sooner had he done this, than he cried 

 out, " Here it comes again ! " and the famous shock commenced. 

 The whole party escaped. The danger in an earthquake is not 

 from the time lost in opening a door, but from the chance of its 

 becoming jammed by the movement of the walls. 



It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which natives 

 and old residents, though some of them known to be men of great 

 command of mind, so generally experience during earthquakes. 

 I think, however, tliis excess of panic may be partly attributed 

 to a want of habit in governing their fear, as it is not a feeling 

 they are ashamed of. Indeed, the natives do not like to see a 

 person indifferent. I heard of two Englishmen wlio, sleeping in 

 the open air during a smart sliock, knowing that there was no 

 danger, did not rise. The natives cried out indignantly, " Look 

 at those heretics, they will not even get out of their beds ! '* 



I spent some days in examining the step-formed terraces of 

 shingle, first noticed by Captain B. Hall, and believed by Mr. 

 Lyell to have been formed by the sea, during the gradual rising 

 of the land. This certainly is the true explanation, for I found 

 numerous shells of existing species on these terraces. Five nar- 

 row, gently sloping, fringe-like terraces rise one behind the other, 

 and where best developed are formed of shingle: they front 

 the bay, and sweep up both sides of the valley. At Guasco, 

 north of Coquimbo, the phenomenon is displayed on a much 

 grander scale, so as to strike with surprise even some of the in- 

 habitants. The terraces are there much broader, and may be 

 called plains ; in some parts there are six of them, but generally 

 only five ; they run up the valley for thirty -seven miles from 

 the coast. These step-formed terraces or fringes closely resemble 

 those in the valley of S.Cruz, and except in being on a smaller 

 scale, those great ones along the whole coast-line of Patagonia. 

 They have undoubtedly been formed by the denuding power of 

 the sea, during long periods of rest in the gradual elevation of the 

 continent. 



Shells of many existing species not only lie on the surface of 



