CHRONICLE. 



£3 



became light ; and a meteor was 

 seen, which approached the earth, 

 and of itself dissipated — and all 

 was again in darkness. My ther- 

 mometer in the room was at 60 

 or 62 degrees : every thing then 

 became quiet;, until seven in the 

 morning, when another (the more 

 trifling) shock was felt. For two 

 days past we have all been no- 

 ticing the oddity of the weather ; 

 all the morning dull, close, and 

 very cloudy — no sun (wind N.) 

 nor I'ain; at about one o'clock wind 

 changed to South, blowing a hur- 

 ricane, and dreadful rains. Last 

 night, the rain cleared off j and 

 although the wind did not change, 

 a thorough calm followed. '1 he 

 ships in the Tagus all seemed to 

 point different ways, and every 

 one supposed that the weather 

 was about to alter for the better. 

 Not being certain as to the length 

 of time it lasted, I spoke to the 

 police centinel who parades in 

 front of our house, and his an- 

 swer was, " about three mi- 

 nutes;" the general opinion is 

 two minutes and a half. The 

 oldest men in Lisbon say it is the 

 longest shock that has been felt 

 in their memory in this city ; and 

 that the very great earthquake of 

 1755, was only for about eight se- 

 conds. No damage has been, re- 

 ceived that I have as yet heard of, 

 except that some of the high 

 houses have received several se- 

 vere cracks : no falls. 



" The Portuguese were so ter- 

 rified, that all the streets wei'e 

 full of the inhabitants, who dread- 

 ed the fall of the houses, and of 

 being buried in the ruins. The 

 rain, since the morning shock of 

 7 o'clock, has been incessant, and 

 particularly heavy. Another ex- 



traordinary circumstance that oc- 

 cuired, was the swarm of birds^ 

 of all descriptions, that filled the 

 air, uttering most hideous notes. 

 Captain Parker, of the navy, who 

 lives in the same house with me, 

 said he had felt a great number 

 of shocks in Palermo, but nothing 

 equal to the one of last night. 



" Many respectable families 

 have gone already on board of 

 ship. 



" It is extraordinary that the 

 grand earthquake was on All 

 iSaints, this on Candlemas day, 

 (Purification of the Virgin Mary) 

 a very strict holiday amongst the 

 Portuguese. 



" I have just learnt that the 

 shock was felt on the other side 

 of the Tagus. If you have ever 

 been to sea, when a wave has 

 struck the keel of the ship, that 

 resembles exactly the feel of a 

 shock. 



" I forgot to mention, that 

 during the latter and more severe 

 part of the great shock, we all 

 heard a loud rumbling noise, like 

 a carriage driven past at immense 

 speed. 



" The large square of theRocio, 

 where the great earthquake of 

 1755 was most felt, presented a 

 most curious appearance ; all the 

 inhabitants occupying the centre, 

 to avoid any crash from the houses, 

 some naked, some with one boot, 

 &c. ; one poor fellow died of fear 

 in Gold-street." 



7. Yesterday, a gentleman, the 

 head in a firm of a first-rate con- 

 cern in the City, put a period to 

 his existence by blowing out his 

 brains. He had gone to the mas- 

 querade at the Argyll-rooms a 

 few nights since, and accompa- 

 nied a female home in a coach, 



with 



