1824.] 
the earth either rose and met it, or sunk 
away from it in its descent. The shock 
was attended with a violent gust of 
wind, and a noise like that of a nume- 
rous flight of birds; but this did not 
precede the event ; I think, on the con- 
trary, that the noise was heard even 
after, or at all events towards the con- 
clusion of the motion. 
The night of the 16th proved ex- 
tremely serene and beautiful ; and as we 
slept in the open air, we had a favour- 
able opportunity of remarking any thing 
extraordinary that. might occur. We 
observed, as we thought, a more than 
usual number of the meteors known by 
the name of falling stars ; but whether 
we might not have been biassed by what 
we had read of such phenomena having 
been supposed to attend earthquakes, I 
will not venture to affirm. Before ele- 
ven o’clock p.m.’ we experienced three 
shocks; and according to the state- 
ments of the sentinels and townspeople, 
there were many in the course of the 
night. The next day, the 17th, the earth 
was frequently in motion, attended by 
gusts of wind, and a noise like that of 
wheeled carriages. For some time be- 
fore 10 a.m. these symptoms intermit- 
ted only for a few minutes, until about a 
quarter to ten, when a severe shock was 
experienced; this lasted for about fifty 
seconds, and brought down a number of 
shattered buildings. 
Until the beginning of August, no 
day passed without one or more shocks; 
and subsequently they became less fre- 
quent, only occurring every third or 
fourth day. During the whole of this 
time- the shocks were generally very 
slight ; many persons did not feel what 
was sensibly felt by others. Subsequently 
to this period shocks became still less 
frequent, occurring at uncertain periods 
of many days interval, until the 23d of 
Noyember, which seems to be the last 
distinct one we had. Until the Ist of 
July there were not fewer than two or 
even three shocks every day ; one daily 
throughout that month ; one every three 
days in August and September ; and per- 
haps six in the course of October; and 
three in November. 
I know not how to class the shocks, 
unless in the fanciful manner of Ist, 2d, 
3d and 4th, implying the degree of their 
severity. Of the 1st, we had only the 
first and most violent ; of the 2d, which 
were such as could be felt by a person 
while standing, but without affecting 
buildings in any material degree, we had, 
_ think, about four; these occurred as 
Montury Mac. No. 400, 
The great Earthquakes in India in 1819. 
-follows: 17th June; 10a.m.; 29th June, 
/ 
113 
2 eM.; 4th July, 3 a.m.:; and another 
at midnight in the same month, but the 
day forgotten: the longest of these did 
not last more than 50 seconds. The 
third class, which is the most numerous, 
are those shocks evident to persons sit« 
ting or reclining; few of these lasted 
longer than perhaps thirty seconds, and 
did no damage. The fourth class is that 
in which are included slight motions of 
the earth, felt by some and disputed by 
others.—The motions of the different 
classes were by many considered as un- 
dulatory and vibratory; although in 
some instances direct perpendicular 
shocks were certainly felt. The second 
class was remarked to be attended by a 
noise like that of a flight of birds and 
gusts of wind, and in some cases similar 
noises to these already mentioned fol- 
lowed or preceded the third class. Noises 
were frequently heard as if proceeding 
from the earth, and the expectation 
which they occasioned, of the usual 
shock, was never disappointed. 
The direction in which the motion 
travelled was, as almost every other part 
of this phenomenon, disputed; many 
(of which I was at first one) believed 
that the direction was nearly from N.E. 
to S.W. The most general opinion, and 
which appears since to be corroborated, 
was, that it was S.W. to N.E. 
The severe effects of the shock of the 
16th were principally confined to the 
province of Cutch, the damage done to 
other countries even bordering on it 
being comparatively trifling; and it is 
remarkable that the shock appears to 
have been more severely felt in many 
distant countries than it/was in those 
intermediate, and even in some closely 
bordering on Cutch. The great shock 
was felt at Calcutta about twenty 
minutes past eight o’clock ; which, when 
corrected to the longitude of Bhooj, will 
give six minutes past seven o’clock 
P.M., or eighteen minutes later than 
the shock was felt in Cutch. 
At Chunar the severe shock was felt 
at seven minutes past eight o’clock p.m. 
on the 16th, equal to 7" 15" 168 Cutch 
time. 
At Pondicherry it was experienced at 
eight p.m., equal to twenty minutes past 
seven o’clock Bhooj time. 
At Ahmedabad the shock occurred 
about seven o’clock; but at Broach, 
which is little more than 3° E. of Bhooj, 
it occurred at nineteen minutes past 
seven o’clock, corrected by observation. 
The range of the great shock em- 
braced 
