Realistic Description of the Disturbance. 95 



North Sea to the Mediterranean have been violently 

 shaken, and at the same instant of time a large tract 

 of the eastern coast of England would have been 

 permanently elevated, together with some outlying 

 islands; a train of volcanoes on the coast of Holland 

 would have burst forth in action, and an eruption 

 taken place at the bottom of the sea, near the north- 

 ern extremity of Ireland ; and, lastly, the ancient 

 vents of Auvergne, Cantal, and Mont d'Or would 

 each have sent up to the sky a dark column of 

 smoke, and have long remained in fierce action. 

 Two years and three-quarters aftenvards, France, 

 from its centre to the English Channel, would have 

 been again desolated by an earthquake, and an 

 island permanently upraised in the Mediterranean." 



The naturalist's last experience with the earth-^ 

 quake was in Copiap6, a town of eight thousand in- 

 habitants. He was invited, with Captain Fitz-Roy, 

 to dine with a Mr. Edwards, an English resident, 

 and the dinner was partly over when a shock came, 

 quick, sharp, and decisive. Darwin heard the rumble 

 in advance, and remained quiet, watching the effect. 

 He naively says : " But from the screams of the 

 ladies, the running of the servants, and the rush of 

 several gentlemen to the doorway, I could not dis- 

 tinguish the motion." 



This was characteristic of Darwin, and his im- 

 perturbability must have amazed some of the others. 



The earthquake was a severe one. Some of the 

 ladies cried with terror, while the gentlemen were 

 badly demoralised. The father of one of the guests 

 had recently experienced the earthquake at Talca- 



