J'clt in the Mediterranean. 033 



siderable force, seemed rather to increase for about two-thirds 

 of its duration, and then gradually subsided till it became in- 

 sensible. According to the general opinion, it lasted between 

 two and three minutes ; but, when allowance is made for the 

 surprise occasioned by such an unusual phenomenon, a minute 

 and a half will probably be the safer estimate. The sensation 

 it produced will be accurately recognised by any person who 

 has been launched in a boat over a rough beach of gravel ; in- 

 deed, the resemblance was so alarmingly manifest, that the 

 leads were instantly thrown overboard ; but no bottom was 

 found with seventy fathoms of line, and I have since sounded 

 nearly in the same spot with 500 fathoms without reaching the 

 ground. No peculiar smell was detected in the air, nor was 

 there any ebullition in the sea, nor tremor on its surface, nor 

 change of colour ; yet the water alongside had something of a 

 fretful unnatural appearance, not easy to describe, — the little 

 waves suddenly rising and dropping as if their motion was ar- 

 rested by some unseen impulse acting in a direction contrary 

 to their course. It did not appear that any change had taken 

 place in either the barometer or thermometer; but circumstan- 

 ces unfortunately prevented their being examined for ten or 

 twelve minutes. Many persons afterwards asserted that this 

 singular scene was accompanied by a hollow indistinct noise ; 

 but nothing of the kind was heard by the officers, who with 

 me had been attentive observers of all that passed. 



In about five minutes after it had ceased, we were assailed 

 by a very sharp squall, accompanied by large hail, and by re- 

 peated flashes of forked lightning, with thunder, at the distance 

 of a few seconds of time. The squall was transient, the musky 

 appearance of the sky quickly vanished, and the afternoon was 

 peculiarly serene and clear. 



We afterwards ascertained that, on the same day, earth- 

 quakes had taken place both in Candia and in the Morea ; and 

 as the ship was nearly in a line connecting the extremities of 

 those countries, it was probably the same great convulsion which 

 had extended throughout that space. The only accounts, how- 

 ever, that could be obtained were too looseto identify the shocks, 

 much less to discover in which direction they had been propa- 

 gated. It is remarkable that from two officers of the English gar- 



