EARTHQUAKES. 



299 



boat was one of a considerable fleet. The night 

 was extremely dark and cloudy ; not a star ap- 

 peared in the heavens, and there was- every in- 

 dication of a severe rain. "Precisely at two 

 o'clock on Monday morning," says Mr. Pierce, 

 " we were all alarmed by the violent and con- 

 vulsive agitation of the boats, accompanied by 

 a noise similar to that which would have been 

 produced by running over a sand-bar. Every 

 man was immediately aroused, and rushed upon 

 deck. The first shock was followed by a second, 

 and then by two others in immediate succes- 

 sion, accompanied by continuous and tremen- 

 dous explosions resembling a discharge of artil- 

 lery. These continued for eight minutes. So 

 complete and general had been the convulsions 

 that a tremulous motion was communicated to 

 the very leaves on the surface of the earth. A 

 few yards from the spot where we lay, the body 

 of a large oak was snapped in two, and the fall- 

 ing part precipitated to the margin of the riv- 

 er; the trees of the forest shook like rushes ; the 

 alarming clattering of their branches may be 

 compared to the effect that would be produced 

 by a severe wind passing through a large cane- 

 brake. x\t dawn of day I went on shore to ex- 

 amine the effects of the shocks ; the earth about 

 twenty feet from the water's edge was deeply 

 cracked, but no great injury was visible ; fear- 

 ing, however, to remain longer where we were, 

 we thought it advisable to leave our landing as 

 expeditiously as possible. This was immedi- 

 ately done. At a few rods from the shore we 

 experienced a fifth shock of such strength that 

 the bank to which we had been attached was 

 rent and fell into the river; while the trees 

 rashed from the forests and precipitated them- 

 selves into the water with force sufficient to have 

 dashed us into a thousand atoms. Wherever the 

 veins of the earthquake ran there was a vol- 

 canic discharge of combustible matter to great 

 heights, an incessant rumbling was heard be- 

 low, and the bed of the river was excessively 

 agitated, while the water assumed a turbid and 

 boiling appearance. Near our boat a spout of 

 confined air, breaking its way through the 

 waters, burst forth, and with a loud report 

 discharged mud, sticks, etc., from the river's 

 bed at least thirty feet above the surface. These 

 spoutings were frequent, and in many places 

 appeared to reach to the very heavens. Large 

 trees, which had lain for ages at the bottom of 

 the river, were shot up in thousands of in- 

 stances, some with their roots uppermost and 

 their tops planted ; others were hurled into the 

 air ; many again were only loosened, and float- 

 ed upon the surface. Never was a scene more 

 replete with terrific threatenings of death. The 

 earth and river, torn with furious convulsions, 

 opened in huge trenches, whose deep jaws were 

 instantaneously closed. Through a thousand 

 vents, sulphureous streams gushed forth, leav- 

 ing vast and unfathomable caverns. During the 

 day there was, with very little intermission, a 

 continued series of shocks, attended with in- 

 numerable explosions, like the rolling of thun- 



der. Banks, with all their growth, fell into the 

 river, whose bed was incessantly disturbed. 

 The oldest trees of the forest quivered with 

 the violence of the shocks, while their heads 

 were whipped together with a quick and rapid 

 motion. Several small islands have already 

 been annihilated, and from appearances many 

 others must suffer the same fate. To one of 

 these I ventured in a skiff, but it was impossi- 

 ble to examine it, for the ground sank from my 

 tread, and the least force applied to any part of 

 it seemed to shake the whole. Anxious to ob- 

 tain a landing, and dreading the high banks, 

 we made fast to some willows on a sunken 

 piece of land at the extremity of an island, and 

 continued there for two days, hoping that the 

 scene of horrors would be over; still, how- 

 ever, the shocks continued, though not with 

 like frequency as before. On Wednesday after- 

 noon I visited every part of the island where 

 we lay. It was extensive and partially cov- 

 ered with willow. The earthquake had rent 

 the ground in large and numerous gaps ; vast 

 quantities of coal and charred wood were 

 spread over the ground. I saw several places 

 where those spouts which had so much at- 

 tracted our wonder, had arisen ; they were 

 generally on the beach, and had left large cir- 

 cular holes in the sand, formed much like a 

 funnel. For a great distance around the ori- 

 fice vast quantities of coal had been scattered. 

 Many pieces weighing from 15 to 20 pounds 

 were discharged 160 measured paces. One of 

 these boles was 16 feet in perpendicular depth 

 and 63 feet in diameter at the mouth. On 

 Thursday morning we loosened our cables. 

 As we descended the river, we saw subterra- 

 nean forests, which raised their heads, hard 

 and black as ebony, above the surface of the 

 water. We passed also thousands of acres of 

 land which had been cleft from the main shore 

 and tumbled into the water, leaving the tops 

 of the trees waving above the surface. At 

 Fort Pickering, 242 miles from the mouth of 

 the Ohio, the land is strong and high. Here, 

 however, the earth was extremely agitated, 

 and the block-house, which was almost a solid 

 mass of hewed timber trembled like an aspen- 

 leaf. Many poor fellows were undoubtedly 

 wrecked or buried under the banks; and many 

 boats were lost." 



Mr. Pierce was not the only one that was 

 alarmed. At Charleston, S. C., a severe shock 

 was felt a few minutes before 3 A. M. A noise 

 like distant thunder was heard at intervals. St. 

 Philip's steeple vibrated so that the clock-bell 

 rang for ten seconds. Clocks were stopped ; 

 houses were shaken, and articles suspended 

 from the ceilings and walls swung to and fro. 

 People were awakened, and left their beds in 

 terror. 



Earthquake-shocks continued to be felt 

 during the year 1812 throughout the valleys 

 of the Mississippi and its tributaries. Audu- 

 bon, the naturalist, has left in his u Ornitho- 

 logical Biography " an account of shocks that 



