EARTHQUAKES. 49 



2nd. I have been twice at the bottom of 

 a mine during a Terremoto, and a greater 

 difference could not well be felt ; the earth 

 under, over, and on every side was convulsed, 

 stones detached themselves from the roofs 

 and sides, and sauve qui peut was the order 

 of the day. 



Now, I thought that a fair conclusion from 

 the foregoing facts might be that the first 

 was merely superficial, and the second more 

 ab imo pectore of the earth, and that they 

 were produced by different causes. "Grant- 

 ed, for the sake of argument," replied my 

 friend ; " but I should like to hear some 

 facts connected with the causes." I had only 

 one fact more to give, and that related to the 

 " Temblor." 



3rd. Although many earthquakes are not 

 preceded by rain, yet in some provinces, such 

 as Coquimbo, and further to the north where 

 only four or five showers fall in the year, the 

 first rains after a long drought are almost 

 always followed by a severe Temblor, and 

 my conclusion was, that as the first sort of 

 earthquake was evidently superficial, from its 

 passing over the head of a person in a mine, 

 the earth's surface, for some little depth, and 

 the atmosphere had become well charged with 



