340 Notice of the Great Explosion at Dover. 



immediately and clearly seen— the prostrate* flagstaff (speedily re-erected 

 in the place of its fait) — the broken turf which a few seconds before had 

 been quietly growing at the summit of the cliff, and every other detail of 

 that extensive Geld of ruin, were seen immediately in all their distinct- 

 ness. Full in the midst of what appeared the highest part of the expand- 

 ing mass, while yet in rapid motion, my attention was attracted by a tu- 

 multuous and somewhat upward-swelling motion of the earth, whence I 

 fully expected to see burst forth a volume of pitchy smoke,[and from which 

 my present impression is, that gas, purified from carbonaceous matter in 

 passing through innumerable fissures of cold and damp material, was still in 

 progress of escape ; but, whether so or not, the remark made at the mo- 

 ment is sufficient to prove the absence of any impediment to distinct vi- 

 sion. 



As regards the amount of tremor perceived, I must confess having 

 speculated with some little anxiety on the probable stability of the abrupt 

 and precipitous ridge on which 1 stood ; and might, therefore, have 

 somewhat underrated the exceedingly trifling movement which actually 

 reached that point, and which I think I have felt surpassed by a heavy 

 waggon passing along a paved street. The impression, slight as it was, 

 was single and brief, and must have originated with the first shock of the 

 powder, and not from the subsequent and prolonged rush of the ruins, 

 which I can positively say communicated no perceptible tremor whatever. 



I have not heard of a single scattered fragment, flying out as a projectile, 

 in any direction ; and altogether the whole phenomenon was totally un- 

 like any thing which, according to ordinary ideas, could have been sup- 

 posed to arise from the action of gunpowder. Strange as it may seem^ 

 this contrast between the actual and the expected effects, gave to the 

 whole scene a character rather of sublime composure than of headlong 

 violence, of gracefitl ease than of struggling effort. How quietly, in short, 

 the gigantic power employed performed its work may be gathered from 

 the fact, that the operators themselves who discharged the batteries were 

 not aware that they had taken effect, but thought the whole aflair a fail- 

 ure, until re- assured bj- the shout which hailed its success. 



The remarkable absence of noise and tremor which chaiacterized this 

 operation is explained by the structure of chalk as a material, and by the 

 rifty state of the cliff as a body. Of all substances, perhaps, chalk is the 

 worst adapted for conveying sound, and the best for deadening the vibra- 

 tion propagated through it by a heavy blow. The initial hammer-like im- 

 pulse of the newly-created gas on the walls of the chambers of the mines 

 (of which it must be recollected there were three, simultaneously explo- 

 ded) was doubtless thus deadened by traversing at least 75 feet of chalk, 

 even in the shortest direction, or line of least resistance ; and this must 

 have taken place before the mass could have been sensibly moved from 



* It has been stated, that the flagstaff continued erect, hut this (if I can credit 

 the distinct evidence of my own senses) is incorrect. 



