C& A HISTORY OF 



this disruption had been made by means of subterraneous fires. Most 

 probably, the base of this rocky mountain was rotted and decayed ; 

 and thus fell, without any extraneous violence." In the same man 

 ner, in the year l6l8, the town of Pleurs, in France, was buried be- 

 neath a rocky mountain, at the foot of which it was situated. 



These accidents, and many more that might be enumerated of the 

 same kind, have been produced by various causes : by earthquakes, 

 as in the mountain at Cajeta; or by being decayed at the bottom, as 

 at Diableret. But the most general way is, by the foundation of one 

 part of the mountain being hollowed by waters, and thas wanting a 

 support, breaking from the other. Thus it generally has been found 

 in the great chasms in the Alps; and thus it almost always is known 

 in those disruptions of hills, which are known by the name of land- 

 slips. These are nothing more than the slidings down of a higher 

 piece of ground, disrooted from its situation by subterraneous inunda- 

 tions, and settling itself upon the plain below. 



There is not an appearance in all nature that so much astonished 

 our ancestors, as these land-slips. In fact, to behold a large upland, 

 with its houses, its corn, and cattle, at once loosened from its place, 

 and floating, as it were, upon the subjacent water ; to behold it quit- 

 ting its ancient situation, and travelling forward like a ship in ques/ 

 'of new adventures ; this is certainly one of the most extraordinary 

 appearances that can be imagined ; and to a people, ignorant of the 

 powers of nature, might well be considered as a prodigy. According- 

 ly, we find all our old historians mentioning it as an omen of ap- 

 proaching calamities. In this more enlightened age, however, its 

 cause is very well known ; and, instead of exciting ominous appre- 

 hensions in the populace, it only gives rise to some very ridiculous 

 law-suits among them, about whose the property shall be ; whether 

 the land which has thus slipt, shall belong to the original possessor, 

 or to him upon whose grounds it has encroached and settled. What 

 has been the determination of the judges, is not so well known, but the 

 circumstances of the slips have been minutely and exactly described. 



In the lands of Slatberg,* in the kingdom of Iceland, there stood a 

 declivity, gradually ascending for near half a mile. In the year 1713, 

 and on the 10th of March, the inhabitants perceived a crack on its 

 side, somewhat like a furrow made with a plough, which they imputed 

 to the effects of lightning, as there had been thunder the night be- 

 fore. However, on the evening of the same day, they were surprised 

 to hear a hideous confused noise issuing all round from the side of the 

 hill ; and their curiosity being raised, they resorted to the place. 

 There, to their amazement, they found the earth, for near five acres, 

 all in gentle motion, and sliding down the hill upon the subjacent 

 plain. This motion continued the remaining part of the day, and the 

 whole night ; nor did the noise cease during the whole time ; pro- 

 ceeding, probably, from the attrition of the ground beneath. The 

 day following, however, this strange journey down the hill ceased en- 

 tirely ; and above an acre of the meadow below was found covered 

 with what before composed a part of the declivity. 



Phil. Trans, vol. iv. p. 250. 



