466 METEOROLOGY. 



3. Previous to November 18, 1867, eartliquakes had not been felt in St. 

 Croix ; on that day they were, and subsequently they have been simultaneously 

 ■with the shocks felt in St. Thomas ; showing thereby that a communication had 

 and has been opened between the two islands. The shocks extended to Porto 

 Ilico, and were ielt throughout most of it; but the force of, and damage done 

 by them to buildings, sugar estate works, and chimneys, was chiefly at the east 

 end, the north side as far down as Arecibo, and the south side as far down 

 as Ponce. Below those places, neither on the noi'th nor the soutli side was any 

 damage done to the buildings. The greater rolling wave passed into the liarbor 

 and over the beaches at the east end, and down the south side of the island, 

 (Porto Rico,) but it did not extend to the irorth side or west end. 



AX OPINION ON THE MARITIME DISASTERS OF THE ANTILLES. 



Under the above title, D. Aristides Rojas has published, in the Federdlisfa 

 of Caracas, the interesting remarks which ensue, chiefly for the service of those 

 among us who are occupied with analogous studies : 



" Having had inquiries addressed to me respecting the catastrophe which is 

 reported to have taken place in the island of St. Thomas, 18th of the present 

 month, I hastily reduced to writing the following propositions, which have since 

 appeared in the Federalista of Thursda}^, November 28. 



" 1. A series of concussions of the earth during four consecutive days may 

 have produced displacements at profound depths, and to this would be attri- 

 butable the inundation of the lower part of the island and the irruption of the 

 ocean ; in this case the phenomenon was merely local and the hurricane of the 

 13th must have contributed in great part to produce it. 



'' 2. It may have had its origin in remote regions ; and, in that case, as well 

 the concussions of the earth as the irruptions of the ocean would have extended 

 over the adjacent coasts of Porto Pico and St. Domingo to the west, and the 

 Virgin islands and lesser Antilles to the east, occasioning ravages in all those 

 places. Supposing the concussions of the earth f.nd the subterranean noises to 

 have been continuous, (as the captain of the Cacique represents was the case in 

 San Pedro de Martinica,) should the phenomenon be attributed to local causes, 

 or to seismic causes operating at a distance ? Were the series of concussions 

 which have been felt of late in the regions of Ecuador, New Granada, and 

 Venezuela connected with the catastrophe of St. Thomas ? 



" Founding my opinion on the movements which have occurred in various 

 sections of the continent, I have come to the conclusion that tlie event in St. 

 Thomas was not local, but, on the contrary, that it bore a relation to general 

 causes which had been in operation beforehand and under vast surfaces of the 

 American continent. The notices just received tend to confirm this view of the 

 phenomenon. As our readers know, it was on the 18th that the series of earth- 

 quakes which desolated St. Thomas began, and that they continued till the 22d. 

 The same day concussions occuiTcd in Guadaloupe and repeated shocks com- 

 menced in Porto Rico, continuing until the 24th, and driving the population of 

 the capital, in affright, from their totteiing houses and fortresses. On the 18th, 

 also, the ocean invaded the capital of St. Thomas, devastating all the lower 

 part, while in Guadaloupe and INIartinique, to the east, the water retired 15 

 metres in the former island and little less in the second. On the 19th the island 

 of Margarita, east of Caracas, was repeatedly shaken, vast waves dashed upon 

 the coast, attaining in some places six fathoms in height. Caupano, on the 

 main land, had a portion of its pier demolished. 



" So far the notices received ; but from these it may be inferred, 1 think, 

 without the least I'isk of error, that concussions must have been expei'ienced in 



