2i 



sheds made of wood and covered by thatch, and they, though often 

 extremely old and shaky in appearance, were invariably none the 

 worse for the shock. 



On Mersea Island the damage done was by no means so great 

 as at Peldon and Langenhoe ; the building which had sustained the 

 most serious damage being the school at "West Mersea. The 

 children were in the building when the shock took place, but 

 fortunately none of them were injured. The clock at the school 

 stopped at 9.20 on the day of the earthquake; the range of its 

 pendulum, when going, was about north-west and soxith-east. 



We were told that the water of the wells on Mersea Island 

 had been thick and turbid on the day of the shock. We went to 

 a spot on the shore at West Mersea where a fissure was said to have 

 been caused l)y the earthquake. At the foot of a gravel bank 

 about twenty feet high, which bounded the higher ground, and 

 overlooked the mud flats, we saw a spring of clear water, and along 

 the side of this bank we found the fissure which could be traced 

 perhaps sixty or seventy yards. The earthquake shock had 

 evidently produced the fissure, but of course a very slight shock 

 or vibration of any kind might cause a fissure in such a position. 

 For a few yards the fissure was large enough to admit a man's arm, 

 further on it became a mere crack. 



Mr. Larman, of tin- coast-guard at West Mersea, told us that at 

 the time of the shock he happened to be looking at the " White 

 Hart " Inn. It seemed to him that the roof of the building was 

 raised some inches, and then lowered again. Knowing that the 

 landlord kept a considerable stock of gunpowder, he supposed at 

 first that an explosion had taken place. The clock at the " White 

 Hart" stopped about 9.19, its pendulum swinging from north- 

 west to south-east, a direction the same as that of the clock at 

 West Mersea School. 



In conclusion, I would state that Mr. R. Meldola, Vice- 

 President of the Essex Field Club, is collecting evidence for a 

 report upon the above calamity, and that he Avill be very glad to 

 receive information from any locality with respect to time of shock, 

 stoppage of clocks, &c. His address is 21, Jolm Street, Bedford 

 Row, London, w.c. 



