EARTHQUAKES. 107 



to iiiiliviiliitilM; but only two were mortally injured. The streets, at such times, present curious 

 M itiMim an. I iii;ti<!i-iis. tuthers and Ix-unx. children and nurses, all in the cost u met of 

 ivpo.s.- in tliis instance, with the bright light of a summer morning to betray their scanty apparel. 

 Nearly all an- on their knees, heating their l.i nl invoking: th<- intercession of Maria San- 



(t\siiittt ; others, with u child under each arm, fly wildly towards the church, or tin- residence of a 

 mother, their solitary garment streaming in the air; some cling to husbands or children, and 

 piteous! y shriek their terror ; very few like Jacob Faithful take things coolly, and after 

 quietly making themselves presentable for so general an assemblage, are ready to wrap dressing- 

 gown or blanket about the shoulders of wife or sister, when the restoration of stability and quiet 

 brings consciousness to the latter. 



A gentleman, who had been riding on the plain to the south of the city, had dismounted, 

 and was standing with a companion, watching the efforts of an old Guaso to force a nearly 

 broken-down horse to the top of his speed. This had been going on for some time, when the 

 old man suddenly slid to his knees in the dust, and so continued as long as the earthquake 

 lasted. At first my friend could not comprehend what was the matter; but, as the first deep 

 rumble and tremor came beneath his feet, himself and companion exchanged but a look and the 

 word temblor. He says, that he had read of the crust of the earth, and of the boiling state of 

 the materials at its centre, but until that instant had never given a thought as to how thin the 

 shell might be ! As the shocks increased in rapidity and violence, with the awful rumbling 

 precisely under him, he was almost certain that it was but pie-crust thick after all, and was 

 irresistibly impelled to stand on tip-toe, lest the whole foot should break through, and he go he 

 knew not whither. Previously the horses of himself and his companion fought whenever they 

 approached ; but during its violence they crept close to each other, and were evidently much 

 terrified. 



Certain lines of the surface were greatly more affected than others. The houses to the east- 

 ward of the city had their windows broken by the violence of the vertical concussions ; those on 

 the belt passing through the western squares experienced greater damage than others about 

 the line in which Santa Lucia is placed, whilst an intermediate tract was excessively disturbed, 

 and furniture overthrown and glass destroyed in large quantities. Objects, as books or bottles, 

 placed on east and west shelves, were often thrown six feet horizontally from the vertical plane 

 in which they stood. On estates near the Cordilleras, and more particularly at those much 

 embayed by hills, the noise, aided by masses of rock which came thundering down their sides, 

 was terrific. The cattle flocked to the dwellings with moans of fear and distress, those that 

 were secured spreading out their fore feet to avoid being overthrown. 



It was felt from Coquimbo to Talca, 310 miles distant from each other in a straight line; 

 but there being contradictory accounts from Mendoza, the eastern limit of the disturbance is not 

 so well known, and the farthest point in that direction from which there is reliable information 

 is San Pedro Nolasco. There, it was quite severe ; the miners witnessing the dislodgment of 

 many masses of stone, and their subsequent descent to the valley. At Valparaiso, 64 English 

 miles W.N.W., there was but a slight tremor; and the reports from Curacavi and Casablanca 

 showed that its main strength had been exerted under the immediate plain on which Santiago 

 lies. Shortly after 8 o'clock there were two other shocks, though so slight as not to have been 

 noticed very generally ; and before the close of. the month our journal records five more. For 

 forty hours after the great shock, and at each of the others, cloudy weather ensued ; a state of 

 the atmosphere almost unknown at this season of the year. Our pendulum left no trace, because 

 of displacement of the sand by the concussions; but we found it vibrating through more than 

 an inch. 



For some time afterwards we were regarded as little better than wizards. It was known that 

 the new instrument had been put up only two days before the shock ; and, arguing from the 

 length of time since the last preceding one, and the consequent accumulation of the disturbing 

 agent, an acquaintance was told, "The next earthquake will probably be severe." When the 



