258 Celebes. 



doubt, to have thrown down brick chimneys and walls and 

 church towers ; but as the houses here are all low, and strongly- 

 framed of timber, it is impossible for theni to be much in- 

 jured, except by a shock that would utterly destroy a Euro- 

 pean city. The people told me it was ten years since they had 

 had a stronger shock than this, at which time many houses 

 were thrown down and some people killed. 



At intervals of ten minutes to half an hour, slight shocks 

 and tremors were felt, sometimes strong enough to send us all 

 out again. There was a strange mixture of the terrible and 

 ludicrous in our situation. We might at any moment have a 

 much stronger shock, which would bring down the house over 

 us, or — what I feared more — cause a landslip, and send us 

 down into the deep ravine on the very edge of which the vil- 

 lage is built ; yet I could not help laughing each time we ran 

 out at a slight shock, and then in a few moments ran in again. 

 The sublime and the ridiculous were here literally but a step 

 apart. On the one hand, the most terrible and destructive of 

 natural phenomena was in action around us — the rocks, the 

 mountains, the solid earth were trembling and convulsed, and 

 we were utterly impotent to guard against the danger that 

 might at any moment overwhelm us. On the other hand was 

 the spectacle of a number of men, women, and children run- 

 ning in and out of their houses, on what each time proved a 

 very unnecessary alarm, as each shock ceased just as it became 

 strong enough to frighten us. It seemed really very much 

 like " playing at earthquakes," and made many of the people 

 join me in a hearty laugh, even while reminding each other 

 that it really might be no laughing matter. 



At length the evening got very cold, and I became very 

 sleepy, and determined to turn in, leaving orders to my boys, 

 who slept nearer the door, to wake me in case the house was 

 in danger of falling. But I miscalculated my apathy, for I 

 could not sleep much. The shocks continued at intervals of 

 half an hour or an hour all night, just strong enough to wake 

 me thoroughly each time and keep me on the alert ready to 

 jump up in case of danger. I was therefore very glad when 

 morning came. Most of the inhabitants had not been to bed at 

 all, and some had staid out-of-doors all night. For the next two 

 days and nights shocks still continued at short intervals, and 



