3817.] 



daily habit and experioncc. Who can 

 read t'f tlie hideous and slimy reptiles 

 which annoy even the domesticity of 

 Ceylon .and Guiana, without siiuddtiing; 

 white, by f.ic natives of tiiese countries 

 they are little regarded; and, as to evils 

 of another kind, we all know with what 

 apathy myriads endure the overwhelm- 

 ing despotism of Asia. But i)ossibly as 

 strong a proof of tlic adaptation of niiiul 

 to. circumstances as ever was recorded, 

 jnay be gathered from tiic ])crsonal nar- 

 rative of Humboldt; it is contained in his 

 account of tlie eartliquakcs atCumana. 



"As no record exists at Curaana, and 

 its archives, on account of tiie continual 

 devastation of the termites, or wliitc 

 ants, contain no document that goes 

 furtiicr than a hundred and fifty years; 

 we are unacquainted witii the precise 

 dates of its ancient earthquakes. \\'e 

 only know, that in times nearer our 

 own, the year 17GG was the most fatal 

 to the colonists. On tl* 21st October, 

 io tliat year, the city of Cuniana was 

 entirely destroyed. The whole of the 

 houses were overturned in the space of 

 a few minutes, and the shocks were 

 hourly repeated for fnurteen months. 

 During the years 176G and 1767, the 

 inliabitants of Cumana encamped in tlie 

 streets, and they l)cgan to build their 

 bouses, when the earthquakes took 

 place only once a month." Again — 

 "Tradition states, that, in the earth- 

 quake of 17GG, as well as in another 

 very remarkable one in 179-1, the shocks 

 were only horizontal variations; it was 

 on the disastrous day of the 14tli De- 

 cember, 1797, that, for the first time at 

 Ciunana, the motion was felt by the 

 raising up of the ground. More than 

 four-fifths of the city were thus entirely 

 destroyed; but, happily, the most violent 

 shock was preceded by a slight undu- 



Original Letter of Sir W, Jones, 



521 



laling motion ; so that tlic greater part 

 of the inhabitants could escape into the 

 streets, and a small number only of 

 tiiose perished, who had assembled in- 

 the churches. It is a generally received- 

 opinion at Cumaua, that the most de- 

 structive earthquakes are announced 

 by very feeble oscillations, and by a 

 hollow sound, which does not escape 

 the observation of persons habituated to 

 this kind of phenomenon. In this fatal 

 moment, the cries of — Misiricordia, it 

 trembles! it trembles! arc every where 

 heard, and it is jciy rarely that a false 

 alarm is given by a native." 



Once more. — " The cartliquakes of 

 Cumana are connected with those of 

 the "West-India islands, and it has even 

 been suspected, that they \\^\e soma 

 connexion with the volcanic phenonicna 

 of the Cordilleras of the Andes. On 

 the 4th of November, 1797, the soil of 

 the province of Quito underwent such 

 a destructive commotion, that, notwith- 

 standini^* the extreme feebleness of the 

 population of that country, nearly forty 

 thousand natives perished, buried under 

 the ruyis of their houses, swallowed up 

 in tlie crevices, or drow ned in lakes that 

 were suddcidy formed." ' "- 



Sucii are the facts which may be ^di 

 commodated to human apprehension, 

 and which, when past, fade from the 

 recollection like the petty sufferings of 

 hourly experience. It is trite to ob- 

 sene, that extremes meet ; but possibly 

 the operation of slight and overwhelm- 

 ing calamity may in some degree re- 

 semble. The first demand but little 

 reflection ; the second confound all con- 

 sideration: in either case the attention 

 is more rapidly at liberty, and escapes 

 that pause which is the origin of the 

 prnfoundest impressions, and the most 

 uutwistable associations. 



REMAINS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



ORIGIXAI. LliTTER OF SIR WM. JONES. 

 (From a valwihle Journal published at Bris- 

 tol, called '' the liristol IMemnrialist.") 



Lunih's /iiiiltlhiL', 21 Mav (h'l Ihc Cukn- 

 lUir: 21 .Y'/c, if/ Ihc weather), 1782. 



My dear Pritchard, 



fHAVi; called anxiously at the sta- 

 tioner's, every now and tiien, for the 

 last month — no letter from Old bury : I 

 have called there this morning with in- 

 creasing anxiety — no letter tmm Old- 

 bury, or Thornbury, or Hawkesbury ; or 

 any other 6itry. Arc yon dead and hu- 

 lird in earnest, my dear Arthur; or are 

 Monthly Mac. No. 292, 



you ill ? The last idea gives me alarm ; 

 lor it is impossible to conceive that you 

 foiget my existence, or that you stand 

 upon the form of regular aiisuere to 

 your letters. jMany thanks for your's 

 dated 17th April — it was short, but 

 agreeable to me. You will ask why I 

 have not answered it, and will be 

 anxious also for niif health : I will inform 

 you ; earnestly iiopirtg that you will burn 

 Ibis, or at least take special care of it. 

 We parted on thcbujik of the Severn On 

 li'mulai/ (was it not.') the 1:4th of April, 

 y X . I reached 



