306 CONCEPCION. 



CHAP. XIV 



and again carried off. In another part, two large vessels 

 anchored near together were whirled about, and tlieir cables 

 were thrice wound round each other : though anchored at a depth 

 of 36 feet, they were for some minutes aground. The great wave 

 liiust have travelled slowly, for the inhabitants of Talcahuano 

 had time to run up the hills behind the town ; and some sailors 

 pulled out seaward, trusting successfully to their boat riding 

 securely over the swell, if they could reach it before it broke. 

 One old woman with a little boy, four or five years old, ran into 

 a boat, but there was nobody to row it out : the boat was con- 

 sequently dashed against an anchor and cut in twain ; the old 

 woman was drowned, but the child M'as picked up some hours 

 afterwards clinging to the wreck. Pools of salt-water were still 

 standing amidst the ruins of the houses, and children, making 

 boats with old tables and chairs, appeared as happy as their 

 parents were miserable. It was, however, exceedingly interest- 

 ing to observe, how much more active and cheerful all appeared 

 than could have been expected. It was remarked with much 

 truth, that from the destruction being universal, no one indi- 

 vidual was humbled more than another, or could suspect his 

 friends of coldness — that most grievous result of the loss of 

 wealth. Mr. Rouse, and a large party whom he kindly took 

 under his protection, lived for the first week in a garden beneath, 

 some apple-trees. At first they were as merry as if it had been 

 a picnic ; but soon afterwards heavy rain caused much discom- 

 fort, for they were absolutely without shelter. 



In Captain Fitz Roy's excellent account of the earthquake, it 

 is said that two explosions, one like a column of smoke and 

 another like the blowing of a great whale, were seen in the bay. 

 The water also appeared every where to be boiling ; and it " be- 

 came black, and exhaled a most disagreeable sulphureous smell." 

 These latter circumstances were observed in the Bay of Val- 

 paraiso during the earthquake of 1822; they may, I think, be 

 accounted for, by the disturbance of the mud at the bottom of the 

 sea containing organic matter in decay. In the Bay of Callao, 

 during a calm day, I noticed, that as the ship dragged her cable 

 over the bottom, its course was marked by a line of bubbles. 

 The lower orders in Talcahuano thought that the earthquake was 

 caused by some old Indian women, who two years ago being 



