THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE 363 



from the screams of the ladies, the running of the servants, 

 and the rush of several of the gentlemen to the doorway, I 

 could not distinguish the motion. Some of the women after- 

 wards were crying with terror, and one gentleman said he 

 should not be able to sleep all night, or if he did, it would 

 only be to dream of falling houses. The father of this per- 

 son had lately lost all his property at Talcahuano, and he 

 himself had only just escaped a falling roof at Valparaiso, 

 in 1822. He mentioned a curious coincidence which then 

 happened: he was playing at cards, when a German, one of 

 the party, got up, and said he would never sit in a room in 

 these countries with the door shut, a? owing to his having 

 done so, he had nearly lost his life at Copiapo. Accordingly 

 he opened the door ; and no sooner had he done this, than he 

 cried out, " Here it comes again ! " and the famous shock 

 commenced. The whole party escaped. The danger in an 

 earthquake is not from the time lost in opening the door, but 

 from the chance of its becoming jammed by the movement 

 of the walls. 



It is impossible to be much surprised at the fear which 

 natives and old residents, though some of them known to 

 be men of great command of mind, so generally experience 

 during earthquakes. I think, however, this excess of panic 

 may be partly attributed to a want of habit in governing 

 their fear, as it is not a feeling they are ashamed of. In- 

 deed, the natives do not like to see a person indifferent. I 

 heard of two Englishmen who, sleeping in the open air during 

 a smart shock, knowing that there was no danger, did not 

 rise. The natives cried out indignantly, " Look at those 

 heretics, they do not even get out of their beds ! " 



I spent some days in examining the step-formed terraces 

 of shingle, first noticed by Captain B. Hall, and believed 

 by Mr. Lyell to have been formed by the sea, during the 

 gradual rising of the land. This certainly is the true 

 explanation, for I found numerous shells of existing species 

 on these terraces. Five narrow, gently sloping, fringe-like 

 terraces rise one behind the other, and where best developed 

 are formed of shingle : they front the bay, and sweep up both 

 sides of the valley. At Guasco, north of Coquimbo, the phe- 



