A GREAT SEA- WAVE. 217 



by land and by sea, which resulted from the tremen- 

 dous upheaving force to which the western flanks of 

 the Peruvian Andes were subjected on that day. The 

 effects on land, although surprising and terrible, yet 

 only differ in degree from those which have been ob- 

 served in other earthquakes. But the progress of the 

 great sea-wave which was generated by the upheaval 

 of the Peruvian shores and propagated over the whole 

 of the Pacific Ocean differs altogether from any earth- 

 quake phenomena before observed. Other earthquakes 

 have indeed been followed by oceanic disturbances ; 

 but these have been accompanied by terrestrial mo- 

 tions, so as to suggest the idea that they had been 

 caused by the motion of the sea-bottom, or of the neigh- 

 boring land. In no instance has it ever before been 

 known that a well-marked wave of enormous propor- 

 tions should have been propagated over the largest 

 ocean-tract on our globe, by an earth-shock whose 

 direct action was limited to a relatively small region, 

 and that region not situated in the centre, but on one 

 side of the wide area traversed by the wave. 



"We propose to give a brief sketch of the history of 

 this enormous sea-wave. In the first place, however, 

 it may be well to remind the reader of a few of the 

 more prominent features of the great shock to which 

 this wave owed its origin. 



It was at Arequipa, at the foot of the lofty volcanic 

 mountain Misti, that the most terrible effects of the 



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