1835.] SHINGLE-TERRACES OF COQUIMBO. . 249 



was interesting to watch the effect of this trifling amount of moisture. 

 Twelve hours afterwards the ground appeared as dry as ever ; yet 

 after an interval of ten days, all the hills were faintly tinged with green 

 patches ; the grass being sparingly scattered in hair-like fibres a full 

 inch in length. Before this shower every part of the surface was 

 bare as on a high road. 



In the evening, Captain Fitz Roy and myself were dining with 

 Mr. Edwards, an English resident well known for his hospitality by 

 all who have visited Coquimbo, when a sharp earthquake happened. 

 I heard the forecoming rumble, but from the screams of the ladies, 

 the running of the servants, and the rush of several of the gentlemen 

 to the doorway, I could not distinguish the motion. Some of the 

 women afterwards were crying with terror, and one gentleman said he 

 should not be able to sleep all night, or if he did, it would only be to 

 dream of falling houses. The father of this person had lately lost all 

 his property at Talcahuano, and he himself had only just escaped a 

 falling roof at Valparaiso, in 1822. He mentioned a curious coincidence 

 which then happened : he was playing at cards, when a German, one 

 of the party, got up, and said he would never sit in a room in these 

 countries with the door shut, as, owing to his having done so, he had 

 nearly lost his life at Copiap6. Accordingly he opened the door ; and 

 no sooner had he done this, than he cried out, " Here it comes again 1 " 

 and the famous shock commenced. The whole party escaped. The 

 danger in an earthquake is not from the time lost in opening a door, 

 but from the chance of its becoming jammed by the movement of the 

 walls. 



It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which natives and 

 old residents, though some of them known to be men of great command 

 of mind, so generally experience during earthquakes. I think, how- 

 ever, this excess of panic may be partly attributed to a want of habit 

 in governing their fear, as it is not a feeling they are ashamed of. 

 Indeed, the natives do not like to see a person indifferent. I heard of 

 two Englishmen who, sleeping in the open air during a smart shock, 

 knowing that there was no danger, did not rise. The natives cried out 

 indignantly, " Look at those heretics, they will not even get out of their 

 beds I" ' 



I spent some days in examining the step-formed terraces of shingle, 

 first noticed by Captain B. Hall, and believed by Mr. Lyell to have 

 been formed by the sea during the gradual rising of the land. This 

 certainly is the true explanation, for I found numerous shells of existing 

 species on these terraces. Five narrow, gently sloping, fringe-like 

 terraces rise one behind the other, and where best developed are 

 formed of shingle : they front the bay, and sweep up both sides of the 

 valley. At Guasco, north of Coquimbo, the phenomenon is displayed 

 on a much grander scale, so as to strike with surprise even some of 

 the inhabitants. The terraces are there much broader, and may be 

 called plains ; in some parts there are six of them, but generally only 

 five; tbey run up the valley for thirty-seven miles from the coast 



