52 CONCEPCION. 



weve observed in the Bay of Valparaiso during the 

 earthquake of 1822 ; they may, I think, be account- 

 ed for by the disturbance of the mud at the bottom 

 of the sea containing organic matter in decay. In 

 the Bay of Callao, dui-ing a cahn day, I noticed, 

 that as the ship dragged her cable over the bottom, 

 its course vv^as marked by a line of bubbles. The 

 lower orders in Talcahuano thought that the earth- 

 quake was caused by some old Indian women, who, 

 two years ago, being offended, stopped the volcano 

 of Antuco. This silly belief is curious, because it 

 shows that experience has taught them to observe 

 that there exists a relation between the suppressed 

 action of the volcanoes and the trembling of the 

 ground. It was necessary to apply the witchcraft 

 to the point where their perception of cause and 

 effect failed, and this was the closing of the vol- 

 canic vent. This belief is the more singular in this 

 particular instance, because, according to Captain 

 Fitz Roy, there is I'eason to believe that Antuco 

 was noways affected. 



The town of Concepcion was built in the usual 

 Spanish fashion, witli all the sti'eets running at 

 right angles to each other ; one set ranging S.W, 

 by W., and the other set N.W. by N. The walls 

 in the former direction certainly stood better than 

 those in the latter: the greater number of the masses 

 of brickwork were thrown down towards the N.E. 

 Both these circumstances perfectly agree with the 

 general idea of the undulations having come from 

 the S.W., in which quarter subterranean noises 

 were also heard ; for it is evident that the walls 

 running S.W. and N.E., which presented their ends 

 to the point whence the undulations came, would 

 be much less likely to fall than those walls which, 

 running N.W. and S.E., must in their whole lengths 

 have been at the same instant thrown out of the 



