76 NATURAL HISTORT. 



In the time of Pope Pius XI. all the churches ami 

 Palaces of Naples were overthrown, and ahove 30,000 

 of its inhabitants killed. In 1 629, there were earth- 

 quakes in Pola, which destroyed 7000 persons ; and 

 in 1638, the town of Saint Euphemia was swallowed 

 up ; and there -remains only a stinking lake in its place. 

 Ragusa and Smyrna were also almost destroyed. There 

 fras an earthquake in l6'92, which extended into Eng- 

 land, Holland, Flanders, Germany, and France ; it was 

 chiefly felt on the sea coasts and rivers, and extended 

 to a space of at least 2600 leagues square, On the l6th 

 of June, 1628, there was so horrible an earthquake in 

 the island of St Michael, that the Sea near it opened, 

 and in one place, where it was more than 1 50 fathoms 

 deep, threw up an island more than a league and a half 

 long, and upwards of 6'0 fathoms high. 



Another earthquake happened in lfi91 which be- 

 gan the Kith of July, and lasted in the island of St 

 Michael till the 12th of the following month. Tercera 

 and Fayal were agitated the next morning with so 

 much violence, that they appeared to move ; but these 

 frightful shocks returned only four times ; whereas, at 

 St Michaels, they did not cease a moment for 15 hours. 

 The islanders having quitted their houses, which they 

 saw fall before their eyes, passed all that time exposed 

 to the injuries of the weather. A whole town, named 

 Villa Franca, was overthrown to its very foundation, 

 and most of the inhabitants buried under its ruins. 

 Several plains rose into hills and some mountains be- 

 came flat. A spring of water issued from the earth, 

 which flowed for four hours, and which appeared dry 

 all on a sudden. The air and sea, still more agitated, 

 resounded with a noise like the roaring of a number of 

 wild beasts. Many per?ons died with the fright, and 



