94 Prof. Ferrara's Account of the Earthquakes 



tired she was left quite dry ; but a second wave returned with 

 such immense force that the ship was dashed in pieces and 

 the oil lost. Boats which were approaching the shore were 

 borne rapidly forward to the land ; but at the return of the 

 water they were carried as rapidly back, far beyond tlieir 

 first situation. The same motion of the sea, but less violent, 

 was observed all along the shore, as far even as Palermo. 

 PoUina, a town with nine hundred inhabitants, occupying 

 ftn elevated position at a little distance from the sea, was in- 

 jured in almost every building; particularly in the church of 

 St. Peter and Nunciata, in the castle, the tower, and in other 

 places. Nor did Finale, a little nearer the shore, suffer 

 less; five of its houses feU in consequence on the 11th of 

 March. 



Beyond the towns which have been mentioned, towards the 

 interior of the island, the shock was vigorous to a certain ex- 

 tent; but kept decreasing as it proceeded, throughout the 

 whole surface. At Ciminna, south of Termini, a statue was 

 shaken from its place on the top of a belfry in front of the 

 great church, and a part of the clock-tower falling, killed one 

 person, and badly wounded another. In Cerda, the shock af- 

 fected the great church, some houses, and half of one of the 

 three forts placed near the city to support the earth on the 

 side of a great declivity. 



The only church in Roccapalomba, which is situated at the 

 top of an acclivity was ruined. The parish church and some 

 private houses in the little town of Scillato wei'e overthrown. 

 InGratteri, a large town south ofCefalu, injury was sustained 

 by the church of St. James, and other houses. Considerable 

 damage was sustained by various churches and many private 

 houses in Colesano, a town containing two thousand inhabi- 

 tants, and situated on an inclined plain on the eastern side of 

 the mountains of Madonie. One of the colleges de Maria was 

 rendered uninhabitable. The hospital, a grand fabric, was 

 made a heap of ruins. The loss is calculated at about thirty 

 thousand onze. In the vicinity of Pozzillo and St. Agata, 

 through a large extent of land many long fissures and caverns 

 were made. Similar caverns and fissures in argillaceous chalk 

 were opened near the little town of Ogliastro, sixteen miles 

 south-east of Palermo. At Isnello, at the foot of the Madonie 

 mountains, the injuries which were received in 1819 were in- 

 creased: Geraci, among the same mountains, suffered a like 

 fortune in the ruin of the cathedral : Costelbuono and St. 

 Mauro, within the same regions, were damaged, both by the 

 former and by the last convulsions ; by the last, the cathedral, 

 the church of St. Mauro, and five private houses suffered much. 



The 



