32 CENTRAL AMERICA. 



almost always covered with a wliolesome 

 herbage for cattle and horses. The change 

 was a memorable event for some districts of 

 Central America. I will relate the event as 

 it occurred at Leon, though for hundreds of 

 miles around the same thing happened, with 

 the difference of a few hours' date from the 

 commencement. 



Early on the morning of January 20th, 

 1835, a few smart shocks of earthquake were 

 felt, and the inhabitants, as they invariably 

 do, ran out of their houses into their " pa- 

 tios " (courtyards) or into the streets. The 

 alarm soon subsided, and the people returned 

 to their dwellings, but the earth did not 

 seem quiet, and continual rej^etitions of run- 

 ning out of the houses and returning, shewed 

 that the inhabitants were kept on the qui 

 vive. These shocks continued at intervals 

 all day, and the night was quieter ; but early 

 on the 21st, the people were again driven out 

 of their houses by a very violent one that 

 lasted a few seconds, and it was some time 

 before they would return, when, as it was 

 still very early, most of them turned into 

 bed again, or laid down in their hammocks. 

 But the darkness seemed most unusually 

 prolonged ; a feeling of suffocation was imi- 



