2?i. Fhyfical and Mifcellaneous 



inflammable Bodies; of which^ the Frequency and Violence of 

 the Earthquakes of this Country, may be a fufficient Proof. 

 The Earthquakes^;/;/. 17x3 and 1714, fliook down a Number 

 of Houfes, and clofed up the Courfe of feveral Fountains : but 

 by one of thefe violent Concuffions ^η.ιηΐ'6, a large Patch 

 of Ground at JVamre, lying in an eafy Defcent, with a Well, 

 a few Trees and a Farm-Houfe upon It, glided down, all to- 

 gether, for the Space of a Furlong, 'till they were one or o- 

 ther of them {topped by the Channel of the Harheene. Seve- 

 ral of the Breaches, together with fome Pieces of the Houfe 

 turned upfide down and lying at a Diftance from each other, 

 are, to this Day, Handing Monuments of This Caiaflrophe. I 

 was alfo informed, that the like Accident happned, at the fame 

 Time, in fome of the mountainous Diftri6ts near Bouje'iah and 

 ElKhadarah. The great Shock in ^nn. 1714-, was perceived 

 from Mtl'iana to Bona\ the Air being then very clear and tem- 

 perate, and the Quickfilver ftanding at the greateft Height; 

 whilft, upon Enquiry, other Concuffions were only found to be 

 local or of fmall Extent, the Quickfilver in thefe Cafes obferv- 

 ing no certain Period, and the Air being, as at other Times, 

 either calm or windy, hazy or ferene. 

 Earth uakes Earthquakcs have been alfo felt fometimes at Sea. ^n. 1714., 

 "' *'"• when I was aboard the Gazella, (an Algerine Cruifer of fifty 

 Guns, bound to Bona to renew the Garrifon) we felt three 

 prodigious Shocks, one after another, as if a Weight, at each 

 Time , of twenty or thirty Ton , had fallen, from a great 

 Height, upon the Ballaft. This happened when we were five 

 Leagues to the N.N.W. of the Sehha Rous , and could not 

 reach Ground with a Line of two hundred Fathom. The Cap- 

 tain, Haffan Rice, told me, that a few Years before, he felt a 

 much greater, at the Diftance of forty Leagues to the Weft- 

 ward of the Rock of Lisbon. 

 TheujuaiTme ^^^ Earthquakcs, during my ftay at Algiers, fell out gene- 

 ^^^^j^E"^'*- rally, a Day or two after a great Rain', at the End of the 

 Summer or in the Autumn. The Caufe perhaps may arife 

 from the extraordinary Conftipation or Clofenefs of the Surface 

 at fuch Times, whereby the fubterraneous Steams wall be either 



I The Inhabitants of Jamaica, expeft an Earthquake ev-ery Year j and fome of them 

 think they follow their great Rains. Sir Hans Shane's Introd. to the Hift. oi fmaica. 

 p. 44. Phil. Tranf. 209. p. 77- 



fent 



