NATURAL HIS T O R Y. 



.575 



having liiiu down, in concealment, fore the late shock occurred, he 

 on the i;-round, to watch for an distinctly felt a slight concussion; 



expected party of fniugglers, 

 wlien the shock took place, one 

 of them started \ip, exclaiming' to 

 his comrade, " There they are! 

 for I feel the ground striking un- 

 der their hordes feet." In t!ie 

 town of Montrose, the inhabi- 

 tants felt their beds move, iirst in 

 a horizontal direction, and then 

 return to their former situation ; 

 after which a tremulous motion 

 was felt, as when a body, after 

 being agitated, settles gsa'.iually 

 upon its basis. Some comjiared 

 it to the slight roll iri.'^- of a ship at 

 sea. The Ijells in houses weie 

 rung, and the furniture sliaken, 

 as in other places, and the gieat- 

 est alarm prevailed. A vivltl flash 

 of lightning was observed to fol- 

 low aftei' the shock. 



The article from Perth speaks 

 of two distinct shocks, the second 

 occurring at. an interval of a mi- 

 nute after the first. Tn otlier re- 

 spects the effects tlicre apijoar to 

 have been similar to, and nearly 

 as powerful as, those at Aber- 

 deen and Montrose. At Dun- 

 keld, a young man, who was 

 stepping into bed at the moment 

 of the shock, was nearly tin own 

 down on the floor ; and in one 

 house the liquor in the glasses 

 was nearly spilt by the concus- 

 sion. A small meteor was seen 

 to jKiss from east to west just 

 about tht time of the eartmpiakc. 



A gentleman who has been for 

 some time on a visit to thisueigh- 

 bourhoofl, ■wiio has resided long 

 in Italy, and who tells of lum- 

 self that he lias always iiad a kinil 

 of luck for meeting with earth- 

 (juakes, assei'ts that, whilot sitting 

 at breakfast, about three days be- 



which, from tlie recollection of 

 what he had exjierienced abroad, 

 gave him veiy considerable alarm, 

 but wliicii he did not wisii to 

 comnnniicate to his fi'iends at the 

 time. This gentleman was akso 

 perfectly sensible of the second 

 and slighter shock, whicii follow- 

 ed on August 13, at an interval of 

 half an hour after the more de- 

 cided con^'ulsion. In this fa- 

 mily, too, we all of lis felt this 

 second concussion. But althougii 

 we noticed it to each otlser at the 

 time, yet I then suspecteit it to 

 be nothing more than tlie sensa- 

 tion of the first shock, which still 

 lemained with us ; as one is ac- 

 cust;nned to think he feels the 

 motion of the waves of the sea for 

 a good while after lie has lauded 

 from a siiij). There cannot beany 

 doubt, liowever, of the reality of 

 this second movement of the earth ; 

 itha\ing been noticed by some in- 

 dividual or other, and at the same 

 inteival of time, in ;ilinost every 

 (juarter where, the more intense 

 shock was experienced. 



There is one fact w liich i cos;- 

 cci\c to be so pccidiariy striking, 

 that 1 cannot idlow it to escape 

 notice, having U'itonly been veiy 

 sensible of it in my own person, 

 but having also learned, by in- 

 ijuiry of others, that the l"c;eiing 

 was by no means a tolitai y one, 

 Ijut remarked pretty generally by 

 anuui'jcr of inilividu.ds. luiUie- 

 (hateiy after the shock of tiic 

 earth(juake eommenccci, I felt 

 myself asiad.cl Ijy a kind of fiiint- 

 islnicss, which did not alUijj, ether 

 leave mc u;itil after i was asleep 

 in bed, aljout two hours after- 

 wards. This sensation was per- 

 fectly 



