378 ON VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 



volcano of St. Vincent broke out during the great 

 earthquake that destroyed Caraccas in 1812. Innu- 

 merable other instances of the same connexions might 

 be produced ; but I shall only add to these, that, on 

 the night in which Lima and Callao were destroyed,, 

 four new volcanoes broke out in the Andes. The 

 great depth at which the causes of earthquakes are 

 situated, is proved by att these phenomena, as well as 

 by the great distance to which the effects of the Lisbon 

 earthquake, and of others, extended. The earthquake 

 of Lima was felt at a distance of four hundred and fifty 

 leagues at sea. 



These facts comprise all which it is necessary to say 

 on the Theory of Earthquakes ; since it thus rests on 

 the same foundation as that of volcanoes, whatever 

 this may be. Yet some phenomena of this nature 

 which have occurred, are still difficult of explanation ; 

 either from their peculiar nature, or from their being 

 unattended by eruptions in any part of the world. 

 The late earthquake in the East Indies overturned 

 two spots of ground at no great distance, leaving an 

 interval of absolute rest between them. Small shocks 

 of earthquakes are also not unfrequent in many places, 

 even in Britain ; and Loch Earn in Scotland has, for 

 many years past, been noted for the frequent recur- 

 rence of these commotions. Whatever their diffe- 

 rences may arise from, or wherever these effects may 

 take place, it is probable that the same general cause 

 applies to all, and that this solid earth on which we 

 tread is only the surface of an abyss, in which exten- 

 sive operations, unknown to us but by these their 

 effects, are in a state of constant action ; ready at any 

 time to produce the most tremendous revolutions, 

 from accessary causes with the nature of which we are 

 equally unacquainted. 



