Earthquakes in Sicily. 217 



the weight of one of them broke its crystal. But two small 

 clocks in my chamber kept their motion, as their vibrations 

 Avere in the direction of the shock. The mercury in the 

 sismometer* preserved in the observatory, was put into vio- 

 lent motion, and at the fifth shock, it seemed as much agi- 

 tated as if it were boiling. 



To the west of Palermo, within the mountains, the earth- 

 quake retained little of its power ; since at Morreale, four 

 miles distant, trifling injury only was sustained by the (bene- 

 dictine) Monastery of S. Castrense, the house of the P. P. 

 Conviventi, and the Seminary dei Cherici. At Parco, six 

 miles distant, Mary's College, the Monastery, the parish 

 Church, and a {ew peasants' cottages, were all that suffered. 

 At Piana, the battlements of the tower were thrown down. 

 But more of its power was felt in places on the sea-coast, as 

 appears from its effects at Capaci, four miles distant, where 

 the Cathedral and several houses were ruined, and at Tor- 

 retta, fourteen miles, where the cathedral, two storehouses, 

 and some dwelling-houses, were destroyed. Beyond, its 

 power continued to diminish ; and at Castellamare, twenty- 

 four miles, the state-house alone had the cleft, which was 

 made in 1819, enlarged. 



In maritime places east of Palermo, the shock was im- 

 mense. At Altavilla, fourteen miles from Palermo, the bridge 

 was shaken. At Trabia, twenty-one miles, the castle, and at 

 Godiano, the cathedral and some houses, were destroyed, — 

 enormous masses from Bisambra, a neighbouring mount, were 

 loosened, and fell. At Termini, twenty-four miles, the shocks 

 were very violent, exceeding all that had happened within 

 the memory of its inhabitants. Those of 1 8 1 8-1 9 were very 

 strong, but the city received at those times no injury ; now 

 the convent of St. Antonio, Mary's College, and various pri- 

 vate houses, felt its effects. 



The warm waters, as well those of the baths as those from 

 the neighbouring wells, which proceed from the same sub- 

 terranean source in the mountains along the coast of Termini, 

 increased in quantity and warmth, and become turbid; con- 

 sequences that always succeed convulsions of the earth, by 



* An instrument, apparently, for the purpose of showing- the violence 

 of the shock of an earthquake. — Tr. 



Vol. IX.— No. "1. v'B 



