EARTH N U T E A R T H Q U A K E. 



371 



is, that the smallest of them may fly, or remain near 

 him, with impunity, and even alight on his eyrie, for 

 he not only does them no harm, but becomes their 

 protector, and defends them against other birds of 

 prey." But he suffers no ravenous bird to approach 

 his domain, chasing and harassing it. till it retires. 

 When tranquil, and sated with food, lie repeats, for 

 hours together, a weak and shrill cry. The nest is 

 placed on the top of the highest trees, and contains 

 two white cirgs, as large as those of the turkey hen, 

 and rounder. The male and female perform alter- 

 nately the function of incubation. 



THE VOCIFEROUS, or SCUKAMINU EAGLE, is de- 

 scribed in the following terms : Rusty brown, waved 

 with black ; head, neck, breast, and tail white. This 

 appears to be the principal rishing eagle of Southern 

 Africa. The craw, which is slightly visible, is covered 

 with long frizzled down. The female is stronger than 

 the male, but less brilliant in her attire. The sexes 

 are inseparable companions, hunting, Hying, and rest- 

 ing together. They subsist chiefly on fish, darting 

 down from the air with inexpressible celerity on such 

 as they perceive, striking the surface of the water 

 with a loud noise, and even submerging their whole 

 body to secure their prize. They also devour a sort 

 of large lizard which abounds in some of the African 

 rivers, and occasionally antelopes, but never birds. 

 Their loud and clamorous call resounds through the 

 vast solitudes of Southern Africa. They arc rare at 

 the Cape of Good Hope, and seldom met with till 

 about sixty or eighty leagues in the interior of the 

 country ; but the district in which they most frequently 

 occur is about the Bay of Lagoa. Like most' other 

 eagles, they place their nest cither on the top of lofty 

 trees, or on the points of rocks, and line it with wool, 

 feathers, &c. The eggs are shaped like those of the 

 turkey, but larger, and also whiter. 



In many parts of India there are eagles, and pro- 

 bably the Imperial eagle of Europe may be found in 

 that country, altered by climate, as it appears that 

 birds of prey, contrary to the habit of the more power- 

 ful predatory mammalia, have their characters softened 

 iu the wanner countries. Many places of India, espe- 

 cially the Ghaut?, or rocky passes which border the 

 table land in the southern "parts, are well adapted f:>r 

 the habits of eagles. The following figure represents 

 what is sometimes called the Pondicherry eagle, 



though it is highly probable that it ranges alone the 

 slopes of the mountains on both coasts. !' 

 said that there are ea<:!. s of a very large size in the 

 astern islands; and, from the character of the coun 



ry, this is highly probable, though we aie but liitle 

 icqnainted with the fact. 



THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE is a native of New 

 Holland, and is about the same proportions as the 

 golden eagle of Europe, but. of smaller size, and 

 laving the tail wedged or pointed. It is represented 

 is preying upon the emu, and the young of the kan- 

 aroo. 



EARTH NUT is the Illinium Jlexuosum of Lin- 

 nseus, and is found in woods and sometimes in pastures. 

 .t has a tuberous root, about the size of a hazel nut, 

 of a sweetish agreeable taste, and eagerly sought, for 

 )y pigs ; indeed, none of the plants are to be met with 

 vhere piys are allowed to ran<re. The Arachis /> 

 \CECI, a South American leguminous plant, is also called 

 he earth nut. 



EARTHQUAKE. This is th.? most terrific of 

 ill natural phenomena, and yet, like many other 

 ihenornena which appear to deface the fair form of 

 nature, it in reality comes with " healing on its 

 v, inus." There is no question but that these extra- 

 ordinary convulsions of the earth's surface; are in 

 reality produced by volcanic powers, and that, 

 though lava and scoria are not at once discharged 

 nto the atmosphere on the site of the earthquake, yet 

 the best recorded accounts always speak of the great 

 volcanic mountains being at the same time in a state 

 of fearful agitation. Indeed, they have genei 

 jeeu found to precede very violent volcanic eruptions, 

 and they serve, like them, to form vents for the 

 escape of chemical agents, which would otherwise 

 tend to* burst asunder and entirely destroy our globe. 

 The character extr.nmlinary phenomena 



will, however, be best understood by furnishing a 

 few details from c\c-wi, tiicir devie 



effects. 



The older natural historians teem with the most 

 exasperated accounts of earthquakes, and the mira- 

 culous interposition of relics in checking their 

 progress. Passing, however, by tnesc day-dreams of 

 'the earlier naturalists, we come to the great earth- 

 quake of 1750, which was felt in three quarters of 

 the globe at once, and which, for a time, c!e 

 the boundaries of the ocean as much as it affected 

 the laud. It commenced at Lisbon on the last 

 day of October, and, according to historians, it 

 began with a thick fog, which was soon dissipated 

 by the heat of the sun. No wind was stirring ; 

 the sea was calm, and the weather as warm as in 

 June or July in this country. At thirty-five minutes 

 after nine, without the least warning, except a rum- 

 bling noise, a most dreadful earthquake shook, by 

 short but quick vibration?, the foundations of all the 

 city, so that many buildings instantly fell. 

 with a scare- tise, the nature of tho 



motion was changed, and the houses were thrown 

 from side to side.Vuh a motion like that of a 

 violently driven over rough stones. This second 

 shock : 'laid almost the whole city in ruins, with 

 rodi-ir,us slaughter of the people." The eanhquake 

 lasted" in all about six minutes. At the moment of 

 .ining, some persons on the river, near a mile 

 lie city, heard a noise as if their vessel had 

 run a'Tound,' though they were tht-n in deep water ; 

 and at the same time they saw the houses tailing on 

 both sides of the river, the bed of the river Tagus 

 many places raised to its surface ; ships were 

 driven froui their anchors, and thrown together with 

 o-rcat violence; nor did their commanders know 

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