256 THE BORDERLAND OF SCIENCE. 



the level of the plain. Every boat was sunk or dashed 

 upon the beach, and hundreds of persons who had been 

 sleeping on the plain were swept out to sea. The 

 Prince and 1,430 of his servants perished. 



One of the most remarkable earthquakes ever ex- 

 perienced was that which overthrew Eiobamba on 

 February 4th, 1797. A district 120 miles long and 

 60 broad was shaken by an undulatory motion which 

 lasted for four minutes, and a far wider district felt 

 the effects of the disturbance. Within the space first 

 named, in which the movement was more energetic, 

 every town and village was levelled to the ground ; 

 and many places were buried under large masses flung 

 down from the surrounding mountains. Among these 

 was the flourishing town of Riobamba. Preceded and 

 accompanied by no warning noises whatever, the 

 terrific concussion in a few moments effected the 

 complete desolation of the unhappy district. The 

 earthquake was a singular combination of perpendicular, 

 horizontal, and rotatory vibrations. So violent was 

 the perpendicular, or as it may be termed the explosive 

 movement, that hundreds of the wretched inhabitants 

 were flung upon the hill La Culla, several hundred 

 feet high, on the further side of the small river Lican. 

 Then came a horizontal movement, so rapidly suc- 

 ceeding the other that in many instances the furniture 

 of one house was found beneath the ruins of another. 

 In some cases property was removed so far from its 

 original place, that disputes arose among the survivors 

 of the catastrophe, and the Audiencia, or Court of 



