EARTHQUAKE IN PERU. 211 



a seat of disturbance lying considerably to the west of 

 the Peruvian shores. " At Chala," says our informant, 

 " the sea receded, and a wave rose fifty feet, and re- 

 turned, spreading into the town a distance of about a 

 thousand feet. Three successive times every thing 

 within range was swept away, followed by twelve 

 shocks of earthquake, lasting from three seconds to 

 two minutes." The arrival of great sea-waves before 

 the land-shocks were felt seems decisively to indicate 

 that the seat of disturbance lay beneath the ocean and 

 not beneath the land. "We are disposed to believe, 

 however, that in the confusion of mind naturally re- 

 sulting from the occurrence of so terrible a catastrophe, 

 the sequence of events may not have been very closely 

 attended to, for in other places the arrival of the great 

 sea-wave is distinctly described as following the occur- 

 rence of the earth-shock. At Arica, for example, a 

 considerable interval would seem to have elapsed before 

 the terrible sea-wave, which has always characterized 

 Peruvian earthquakes, poured in upon the town. The 

 agent of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, whose 

 house had been destroyed by the earth-shock, saw the 

 great sea-wave while he was flying toward the hills. 

 He writes : " While passing toward the hills, with the 

 earth shaking, a great cry went up to heaven. The 

 sea had retired. On clearing the town, I looked back 

 and saw that the vessels were being carried irresistibly 

 seaward. In a few minul.es the sea stopped, and then 



