

•which occurred in India in 1 8 1 9. Ill 



should have extended into Persia and Arabia, and nearly to 

 the equator. As we know, however, that the shock of the 

 16th was not felt in these countries, it follows that Cutch was 

 not the centre of motion, because, if the cause of this phe- 

 nomenon had its origin in Cutch *, the power which agitated 

 the earth must have acted nearly entirely to the eastward of a 

 line extending north and south through the centre of the pro- 

 vince. 



That the cause of the shock, wherever it had its seat, must 

 have been at a vast depth below the surface of the earth, may 

 perhaps be admitted, when we reflect on the immense surface 

 moved; but, as I have already observed, my want of know- 

 ledge on the philosophical branch of the subject warns me to 

 stop. 



We come now to speak of the effects of this awful occur- 

 rence. And first of all it may be proper to advert to our own 

 feelings, and the state of our minds, on witnessing, for the 

 first time, such a visitation. If I were to say that the impres- 

 sion, after the shock had subsided, was an agonizing fear, it 

 might perhaps offend, although the strong oppression at the 

 . heart, a kind of gasping anxiety, weakness in the limbs, and, 

 in some cases among Europeans, and generally throughout 

 the natives, a slight sickness of stomach f, certainly cannot be 

 interpreted in more appropriate language. 



For a long time, and indeed I believe up to the present 

 day, among natives, similar symptoms in a less degree are felt 

 on the occurrence of the slight shocks ; but for a short time 

 after the 16th there was a restlessness and disinclination to be 

 alone, or to attend to usual occupations, visible in both Euro- 

 pean and native societies. In the latter, despair and help- 

 lessness were strongly depicted in their countenances, and 

 their language and actions both corroborated the fact of these 

 feelings being the sole tenants of their minds. They insisted 

 to a man that there was almost a constant undulatory motion 

 in the earth, and frequent vibrations between the shocks, for 

 ten days after the 16th; and this last feeling among Euro- 

 peans was, I believe, confined to myself and one or two other 

 persons. 



The brute creation in general did not appear to show much 

 sensibility to the motion ; but it was remarked that horses in 



* From the circumstance of the shocks still continuing in this province 

 alone up to this day, now nearly eight months, I confess that, ignorant as 

 I am of the theory of earthquakes, I am inclined to think that the causes 

 are to be found in the structure of the country. 



f The information from Pondicherry states a similar feeling to have been 

 excited there on the lGtli. 



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